How Canada and Philippines rank in 2026 global passport index

By Carlito Pablo

Canada ranks among the Top 10 most powerful passports in the 2026 global index released by Henley & Partners, a London-based residence and citizenship planning firm.

Meanwhile, the Philippines placed 73^rd in the list of 101 slots that ranked 199 passports across the world.

Henley & Partners explains that the index is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the world’s largest travel information database.

The index tracks visa-free access to 227 countries and territories. 

The 2026 index shows Canada in eighth place, tied with Iceland and Lithuania. Passport holders from the three countries can travel visa-free to 181 countries.

Meanwhile, the Philippines tied with Mongolia at 73^rd place, with their passports guaranteeing visa-free entry to 64 countries.

At 101^st slot and dead last is Afghanistan, with visa-free visits to 24 countries.

CTVNews.ca interviewed Basil Mohr-Elzeki, managing partner at Henley & Partners, by Zoom, and he said that the passport rankings are based on a straightforward measure of visa access.

“It’s a quite a simple calculation,” Mohr-Elzeki said. “The Canadian passport allows Canadians to travel to 181 countries without a visa, meaning you don’t need to apply for paperwork in advance. It’s a numerical calculation based on visa-free travel.”

For its part, Canada allows travellers from several countries to enter its borders visa-free for tourism purposes.

In January 2026, Canada added 13 more countries to its visa-free entry list, including the Philippines.

To qualify for a visa-free entry from the Philippines, travellers must meet the following criteria:

– Must have held a Canadian visitor visa in the past 10 years or a current non-immigrant visa for the US.

– Must have a valid passport.

– Must be traveling via air. 

These guidelines released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) allows travellers to stay in Canada for up to six months.

In addition to the Philippines, the 12 other countries included in the expanded list of visa-free entry are Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Costa Rica, Morocco, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.

Meanwhile, Canadian passport holders can travel visa-free to the Philippines for tourism and business and stay up to 30 days.

The top 10 strongest passports in the January 2026 Henley passport index:

Rank Passport Number of visa-free destinations 

• 1 Singapore 192
• 2 Japan 188
  • South Korea
• 3 Denmark 186
  • Luxembourg
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
• 4 Austria 185
  • Belgium
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
• 5 Hungary 184
  • Portugal
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • United Arab Emirates
• 6 Croatia 183
  • Czechia
  • Estonia
  • Malta
  • New Zealand
  • Poland
• 7 Australia 182
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • United Kingdom
• 8 Canada 181
  • Iceland
  • Lithuania
• 9 Malaysia 180
• 10 United States 179