Canadian passports were just rated the eighth most powerful in the world

Your mileage with some nations' passports may vary, but a new report shows that your Canadian passport will unlock many more doors than the global average, with the country's passport ranked the eighth-most powerful out of almost 200.

The Henley Passport Index has been tracking the strength of passports for 17 years, compiling data provided by the International Air Transport Authority and supplementing it with in-house and open-source research to create rankings for 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.

Rankings are based on the number of countries one can travel to visa-free, and a Canadian passport will grant you access to an impressive 185 countries.

The Q3 edition of the Henley #GlobalMobilityReport and #HenleyPassportIndex is out today, based on the most up-to-date exclusive data from @IATA, and expert analysis from leading experts on major and emerging trends in global and regional mobility today https://t.co/OwxuTC7kBr

— Henley & Partners (@HenleyPartners) July 19, 2022

The latest quarterly report places Canada in eighth place alongside Australia, the Czech Republic, Greece and Malta, ahead of ninth-place Hungary (183 visa-free countries) and trailing the United States, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand and Belgium in the seventh position with travel to 186 countries visa-free.

The top spot in the index went to Japan, whose passport holders can visit an impressive 193 countries visa-free, while Singapore and South Korea tied for second place with 192 countries.

While a Canadian passport will get you into the majority of countries hassle-free, another 41 countries require either a visa on arrival or an electronic travel visa.

This includes a few places you'd expect to see on the list, like North Korea, Iran, Russia, and Afghanistan, and some you probably wouldn't have guessed to see, like fellow NATO member state Turkey.

Another outlier is Japan, which requires visa access for Canadian passport holders despite Canada allowing Japanese passport-holders to enter the country visa-free.

Despite Canada's passport prestige, it's not exactly a cakewalk using one these days. International travel is on the road to recovery, but crush crowds and delays at understaffed airports likely have a few would-be travellers reconsidering vacation plans.