Canada's place in the world

Canada's global contributions and impacts, as well as its international influence and reputation.

Canada's place in the world is measured using Canada's performance or positioning in three internationally recognized indices: the Global Soft Power Index, the Good Country Index, and the Spillover Index.

Together, these indices assess Canada's global contributions and impacts as well as its international influence and reputation. Canada's relative scores and positioning across these indices are used to monitor its overall place in the world from an international perspective.

Global Soft Power Index

The Global Soft Power Index evaluates how much influence countries have around the world through attraction and persuasion rather than coercion. The index compares 193 countries based on how people in other countries view them. It is based on a large international survey of more than 170,000 respondents from more than 100 countries. Participants are asked about their perceptions of each country with respect to three overarching key performance indicators and 35 nation brand attributes associated with eight soft power areas.

The three key performance indicators are as follows:

• Familiarity: how well a nation is known
• Reputation: how positively a nation is regarded
• Influence: how much a nation is perceived to influence other nations.

The 35 soft power metrics relate to the following themes or pillars: business and trade, international relations, education and science, culture and heritage, governance, media and communications, sustainable future, and people and values.

These perceptions are combined into an overall score from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate that a country is seen as more influential and positively regarded internationally.

Good Country Index

The Good Country Index reflects how much countries contribute to goals that have international impact. The index comprises 35 indicators within several thematic categories, including contributions to science and technology, culture, international peace and security, world order, planet and climate, prosperity and equality, and health and wellbeing. The index uses publicly available information to assess the extent to which countries contribute to the global good relative to their size. It aggregates quantitative data across multiple domains into a composite score, providing both an overall ranking and rankings within each of the seven categories. It also presents a balance sheet comparing Canada's positive and negative impacts against the international average for each indicator.

Spillover Index

The Spillover Index is produced as part of the Sustainable Development Report. Each country's actions can have positive or negative impacts on other countries' ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The Spillover Index assesses such spillovers for 167 countries along three dimensions: environmental and social impacts embodied into trade, economy and finance, and security. The index is based on international administrative and statistical data. A higher score means that a country causes more positive and fewer negative spillover effects.

Canada's place in the world reflects its global contributions, impacts, and international influence.

These, in turn, enhance quality of life in Canada in the following ways:

• by supporting reliable trade relationships, attracting visitors, talent and international investment, and reinforcing confidence in Canadian institutions, expertise, and products
• by strengthening Canada's ability to participate meaningfully in multilateral forums; influence global standards; promote values such as human rights, environmental stewardship, and inclusive economic growth; and create conditions that encourage long-term cooperation and foster global stability and resilience.

Canada's position in these international indices provides a concise overview of its international reputation and how it shapes global outcomes.

The indices also provide an overview of Canada's international footprint and impacts on quality of life beyond its borders.

Global Soft Power Index

Good Country Index

Spillover Index

Canada's international reputation, as reflected in the Global Soft Power Index, can help attract immigrants, international students, and temporary workers. Migration statistics provide related data that show actual movement into Canada, which may be influenced by perceptions of opportunity, education, and quality of life. Official data on immigration and non-permanent residents are available here: Immigrants and non-permanent residents statistics.

The Canada and the World Statistics Hub provides information on Canada's economic and financial activity with the world. It brings together data from a number of Statistics Canada products and presents it in a single interactive analytical tool.