Canadian passports – now being renewed at a furious rate as borders re-open – are traditionally considered “gold” when travelling thanks to this country’s generally innocuous and likeable nature abroad. A new survey of 199 passports worldwide goes further, ranking Canada 8th globally in 2021 when measuring how many countries we can travel to visa-free. But such universal elitism is not universally welcome.

According to the Henley Passport Index, based on data from IATA, Canadians can travel to 184 destinations visa-free (out of 227), trailing leaders Japan and Singapore (shared 192) and Germany and Korea (190).

Historically, Canada has placed as high as second (2014) and no lower than 9th (2010, 2011 and 2020) during the 16 years the survey has been conducted. Sixth has been the most prevalent ranking.

However, a notable metric of the survey is the “passport gap” between nations. And this year’s results, according to Henley, show that the proliferating barriers to entry over the past 18 months of the pandemic have resulted in the widest global mobility gap in the survey’s history, with passport holders from top nations Japan/Singapore able to travel visa free to 166 more destinations than Afghan nationals, who sit at the bottom of the index with access to just 26 countries without requiring a visa in advance.

The survey notes that global north countries with high-ranking passports (like Canada) have enforced some of the most stringent inbound COVID-19-related travel restrictions, while many countries with lower-ranking passports in the global south have relaxed their borders without seeing this openness reciprocated. This has created an ever-widening gap in travel freedom even for fully vaccinated travellers from countries at the lower end of the passport power ranking, who remain locked out of most of the world.

Moreover, this gap is likely to increase, says the survey, as pandemic-related restrictions become entrenched and amplify the already significant global mobility divide between advanced and developing economies. Japan, for example currently bars almost all foreign nationals from entry. Germany currently restricts nearly 100 countries from entry.

At the lower end of the index, Egypt, ranked 97th, currently has no travel restrictions in place, yet its citizens can access just 51 destinations around the world without acquiring a visa in advance. Similarly, Kenya, which ranks 77th, has no travel bans in place, yet its passport holders can access just 72 destinations visa-free.

Prof. Mehari Taddele Maru from the United Nations University Institute says “the global north has been enforcing aggressive migration containment strategies for some time now through the rigid application of border controls, undermining the movement of persons in various ways. COVID-19-associated travel restrictions are new additions to the toolbox of migration containment instruments employed by the global north to curb mobility from the global south.”

Recent adjustments to the COVID-ban policies of the UK and the US, which share 7th place on the index with a visa-free score of 185, have done little to alter what experts perceive to be growing inequalities when it comes to travel freedom and access. Nor has their refusal to recognize vaccines administered across Africa, South America, and South Asia.

Although the US has now opened its borders to all fully vaccinated travellers, the UK’s recent revision of its ‘red list’ still excludes fully vaccinated travellers from seven countries.

Commenting on these latest developments, Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners and the inventor of the passport index concept, insists that “if we want to restart the global economy, it is critical that developed nations encourage inward migration flows, as opposed to persisting with their outmoded restrictions and exclusive approach to the rest of the world.”