The results published placed Canada at number two, while Switzerland was ranked position one. However, it failed to register a top position in any category, unlike Canada, which ranked number one in various aspects.
Sweden beat Canada in the Citizenship category to take the top position. However, Canada improved in this category and was number two, confirming its continued support for its citizens and even people who want to work there. The citizenship section takes into account the efforts put in by a country to solve its human rights issues.
Apart from citizenship, other factors that form the basis of ranking in this category include gender equality, the environment and religious freedom. Higher rankings from these subcategories saw Canada ranked among the top in the citizenship aspect. Countries ranking higher in this category also possessed other attributes, including trustworthiness, progressiveness, sound distribution of political power and respect to property rights both from those in authority and from the citizens.
Another aspect that Canada performed exemplary is the “Open for Business” category, which touched on the business nature of the countries surveyed. Only two countries ranked higher than Canada, both from Europe, and they are Switzerland and Luxembourg. This category touches on the level of friendliness in the aspect of doing business in any of the countries taking part in the survey.
The “Open for Business” ranking also touched on factors that affect businesses in the country surveyed, which include the bureaucracy levels, tax environment, government practices, corruption and manufacturing costs. In the subcategory of transparency, Canada scored ten points out of the possible ten available, while a zero in the subcategory of corruption, making it rank higher in both subcategories, an aspect that boosts its overall score and making it rank higher in the “Open for Business” category.
