Some things just aren’t measurable. For example, you can’t just rank entire countries and decide which one is best.
Or can you?
According to the U.S. News & World Report, not only are there systems you can use to rank the world’s best countries, but these systems have determined that Canada is the second-best country in the world. Only Switzerland ranked better than Canada, according to the report.
The countries are ranked according to nine categories, including quality of life (in which Canada was ranked number one), heritage, and cultural influence. There are also several more ambiguous categories in play, such as “power” and “adventure.”
“Canada’s expansive wilderness to the north plays a large role in Canadian identity, as does the country’s reputation of welcoming immigrants,” the site’s profile of Canada reads. The report also notes that Canada is a “high-tech industrial society with a high standard of living” and that it has produced important artists such as Céline Dion, Sarah McLachlan and Joni Mitchell.
Canada has been number two in the rankings since 2016, though Switzerland hasn’t always been in the top spot. In 2016, Germany was the top-ranked country (it’s now third). The other countries rounding out the top five are the UK and Japan.
America’s ranking dropped this year, falling from number seven to number eight, a downward trend that is being seen as a result of its increasing political instability, its becoming less progressive, and an unpopular leader.
Of course, Canada’s not perfect, as the report notes: “Canada faces national challenges related to the concerns of indigenous people and those in the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec.”
Overall, Canada did well in various sub-rankings, coming in third in “best countries for education” and ninth in “best countries for green living.”
We Canadians aren’t known for boasting, but this may be an opportunity to indulge in a little bit of national pride — as well as thinking about ways we might improve and nab that number one spot next year.
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