Canada has fallen to 19th place in the latest annual best countries ranking published by U.S.News, slipping one position behind the United States, which ranked 18th.

Despite the decline, the report notes that Canada continues to perform strongly in several areas, although its overall position reflects both real changes in performance and an updated methodology used in the ranking system.

Previously ranked second in 2023 and fourth in 2024, Canada’s drop is partly attributed to a revised evaluation model that now incorporates more than 100 statistical indicators sourced from international organisations such as the United Nations and the OECD.

The updated framework assesses countries not only on economic output but also on “operational health,” including civic engagement, infrastructure, governance and healthcare systems.Canada’s strongest performance was in culture and tourism, where it scored highly for creative exports, linguistic diversity and tourist appeal.

It also maintained a perfect score of 100 in universal healthcare coverage, with strong results in life expectancy and disease detection, though it lagged in hospital access and physician availability.

In governance, Canada ranked 18th, benefiting from low political violence, strong institutional effectiveness and a respected passport, but showing weaknesses in debt levels and taxation metrics.

The country also ranked 18th in opportunity, reflecting strengths in education and business formation but weaker results in investment and taxation competitiveness.

Lower rankings were seen in infrastructure (20th) and civic health (27th), with concerns highlighted around energy independence, road density, voter turnout and social indicators such as anxiety and incarceration rates.

Meanwhile, Switzerland topped the global list, followed by Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, with Australia as the highest non-European country at 14th place.