A new report has highlighted Canada’s track record of safety and peace. The report also indicated that Canada’s standing as a safe and secure country is likely to improve even further with continued efforts by their government to attract foreign talent and investment. And it seems that these attractive changes and improvements will largely be the result of Canada’s progressive immigration policy.
The Global Peace Index (GPI) report for 2016 was published in July this year by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the world’s leading think tank dedicated to developing metrics to analyse peace and to quantify its economic value. The IEP is independent, non-partisan, and non-profit organization that considers a number of factors when determining the safety and security standings of world countries.
According to their findings Canada has the second-highest ranking of any non-European country. This is also the highest ranking of any non-European country sharing a land border with any other country, and their neighbour, North America, took top spot.
According to indications investigated by the GPI Canada’s ranking are expected to improve over the coming years and it is likely that this improvement will be as a direct result of the country’s immigration plan.
Canada ranked eighth globally across a range of peace-related indicators, with an overall ‘very high’ state of peace. Canada’s ‘violence containment costs’, at just two percent of GDP, were the joint-lowest in the world. In addition, the report concludes that Canada has the attitudes, institutions, and structures that create and sustain a peaceful society.
Overall, the report found that the world is less peaceful than last year, with violence not only costing lives, but also 13.3 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Over the last decade, the average country GPI score has deteriorated by an average of 2.44 percent. Among the countries that experience the sharpest year-on-year deteriorations in peace were Ukraine and Turkey.
Canada’s national election in October 2015 of a Liberal Party government will result in the acceptance of thousands of Syrian refugees, greater spending on humanitarian aid, and the withdrawal of combat troops from missions in Iraq and Syria – all of which are situations that are likely to improve Canada’s rating even further
“With increased security concerns and almost-daily reports of violence in many regions of the world, the least that could be said is that we live in interesting times. Of course, recent weeks and months have seen violence occurring in places where people did not think it would occur, and I think it is this factor that has led to much worry, particularly in Europe,” says Attorney David Cohen.
“Experts are predicting a shift towards more reactionary politics and protectionist economics as a result, but Canada is something of an outlier in this regard. The relatively new government is global in its outlook and welcoming not just in tone, but also in practice. For example, it has pledged to take in more new immigrants than any other government in modern Canadian history.”
Global Peace Index 2016: Top 10
Iceland
Denmark
Austria
New Zealand
Portugal
Czech Republic
Switzerland
Canada
Japan
Slovenia
Others (selection): Australia (15th), Germany (16th), France (46th), United Kingdom (47th), United States (103rd)