Canada still among 20 most peaceful countries as U.S. slips further

Source Summary

Residents in Canada can take pride in the fact that they live in one of the most peaceful countries, especially as the U.S. has slipped further down a recent list. The latest Global Peace Index (GPI) ranks Canada among the world’s safest and most peaceful countries, while the U.S. fell several spots in the rankings. Now in its 20th edition, the report is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), and “measures a country’s level of negative peace using three domains of peacefulness.” The first metric is the ongoing domestic and international conflict, the second is societal safety and security (crime rates, terrorist activity, violent demonstrations, political stability), and the third is a country’s militarization (a country’s level of military build-up and access to weapons). Countries are assigned a score from one to five, with lower scores indicating higher levels of peace. Artificial intelligence has had a huge impact on both peace and conflict this year. While AI has been used in modern warfare with the use of drone attacks, its use for peace “remains fragmented and underfunded.” WHERE DOES CANADA RANK? This year’s report ranks 163 independent states and territories. At the top is Iceland, which retained its number one spot from last year, with a peace score of 1.61, followed by New Zealand. Both countries earned a “very high” rating for their level of peace. Canada may not have cracked the top 10, but it’s still among the 20 most peaceful countries, retaining its 14th spot for the second year with a score of 1.525 and a level of peace that’s considered “high,” along with Czechia at number 13 and Hungary at number 15. Despite being in the same spot, Canada’s peace levels have shown a slight decline: in 2025, it scored 1.491. That’s because while safety and security have improved slightly, the country is seeing more violent demonstrations, and ongoing conflict and militarisation have both deteriorated slightly. “Despite the overall improvement, Canada’s Safety and Security domain score has deteriorated over the longer term since 2008, deteriorating by 7.7 per cent,” reads the post. While Canada retains its spot, its southern neighbour fell several spots. In 2025, the U.S. ranked 128th with a score of 2.443. But this year, it has dropped further in the rankings, down to 134 with a score of 2.535. When it comes to the state of peace in the U.S., it’s considered “low,” and it’s right behind Venezuela (#133) and just ahead of Ecuador (#135). This huge drop was attributed to the deteriorating levels of safety and security, and the highest level of political violence since the 1970s. Canada may not have been number one globally, but it’s number one regionally. It’s the most peaceful nation in North and Central America, followed by Costa Rica and Jamaica. It’s been a turbulent year overall, as globally, the average level of peace fell by 0.7 per cent, compared to 2025. For the second year, Russia remains the least peaceful nation at the 163rd spot. “The world has become less peaceful over the past 18 years,” states the report. These are the 20 safest countries in the world in 2026, according to the GPI: Check out the full report. You might also like: - Canadian an instant multimillionaire in weekend lottery draw - Canadian Elon Musk holds title many wish didn't exist: World's first trillionaire - Some Canadians receiving several government benefit payments this week