Canada is regarded as the world’s safest country for travelers in 2023–2024, according to a Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) study that was published in late 2023.
According to BHTP, “six sub-category scores as the basis” are combined to create an average of “all measures from [BHTP’s] State of Travel Insurance research,” which serves as the foundation for the overall rankings.
Moreover, BHTP adds that it “also [averages] the GeoSure Global scores of the major cities in each country” and that it “balances its own surveyed ratings with other indices and information, including the Global Peace Index and the State Department’s own travel safety ratings.”
BHTP “calculates a weighted score that reflects each country’s overall safety” by combining these many metrics.
More: Click here to view BHTP’s whole 2023–2024 report, which includes details on how the rankings have changed over time, warnings, and the methodology and background of the rankings.
Canada is ranked five places higher than it was a year ago.
Canada rose to the top of the list of the world’s safest vacation destinations this year, surpassing its sixth-place placement from the previous year’s BHTP rankings.
The research cites “cold weather and low population density, [which] make for safe travels” as major factors in Canada’s high position.
In addition, this year’s study featured a special section labeled “what you need to watch out for” for each of the top 15 nations in the BHTP rankings.
Travelers should be aware about wildfires in Canada, since this part states that “the country’s many forests were seemingly all burning, which has reduced air quality in most major Canadian cities.” This made it challenging for those with respiratory issues to go to Canada.
However, the statement “as traveling destinations go, it really doesn’t get much safer than Canada” (from Gap Year Travel Store) summarizes travel safety nationwide. It is included in the report’s section specifically devoted to Canada. There is a low rate of gun-related crime and very little violent crime.
Canada’s rating broken down by subcategory
The BHTP study creates an overall rating of the safest vacation destinations based on the following dimensions:
- protection against heinous crimes
- protection from terrorism
- Safety in transportation*
- health indicators, including illness
- Group safety (women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people)
Notably, Canada was placed top in every sub-category that was part of the list this year. To see the top 10 nations in each subcategory, click this link.
*BHTP states that “countries with either well-developed road and transportation systems (everywhere but Iceland) or a limited need to travel far (Iceland)” are included in the category of transportation safety.
Age- and income-based BHTP rankings
The 2023–2024 edition of these rankings’ survey respondents “had wildly different perceptions of the world’s safest countries depending on their age and income,” according to BHTP.
Nevertheless, based on these subgroups, Canada consistently ranked among the top four safest destinations for tourism.
The following shows how Canada’s placement in the BHTP rankings would have changed if it had been based on the replies from particular respondent groups rather than the overall rankings.
The Millennial Generation
Canada came in fourth place among Millennials who replied to BHTP’s study in terms of overall travel safety, after the UK, Norway, and Switzerland.
Generation Z
According to BHTP’s poll, Canada maintained its top spot for overall travel safety among Gen Z respondents.
Respondents earning more than $200,000 per year as a family
Canada was placed second in terms of overall travel safety among BHTP survey respondents who belonged to this household income bracket, only behind Portugal.
Respondents who spend above $25,000 annually on travel
Canada came in sixth place for overall travel safety among BHTP survey participants who fit into this trip expenditure group, after the Netherlands, Hungary, the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, and Portugal.
“Mature” survey participants
BHTP survey respondents who fell into this age bracket placed Canada as the ninth safest country for travel overall, despite the fact that the study does not identify the age at which respondents are considered “mature”. Canada was last among the responses in this group:
- Iceland
- South Korea
- Sweden
- Japan
- Denmark
- Norway
- New Zealand
- Ireland
Parents
According to parents who participated in the BHTP poll, Canada maintained its top spot for overall travel safety.
LGBTQ+ vacationers
Remarkably, the only subset of BHTP survey respondents that explicitly left Canada outside their top 10 safest vacation destinations were those who identified as LGBTQ+.
