WorldRisk

Which passport do you hold?

Risk to a traveller depends on their nationality. A country that sanctions your destination, or is sanctioned by it, changes how you are treated on arrival. Choosing here adjusts every score on the site.

We hold travel advice written for four nationalities so far. Selecting anything else shows the neutral baseline, and every page says so where it applies rather than presenting it as an assessment made for you.

Kept in your browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere, and you can change it at any time from the header.

All countries

Canada

25Caution25 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49good confidence(7/7 dimensions)
What this score means
Extreme75 to 100
Severe and systematic. Device search, interception and detention over online activity are documented rather than theoretical. Reconsider what you carry and what you say.
High50 to 74
Substantial and consistently evidenced measures. Device inspection, monitored networks or restricted services should be expected rather than treated as unlikely.
Caution25 to 49
Some risk, and manageable with precautions. Measures are evidenced but are narrow, inconsistently applied, or the picture is mixed.
Low0 to 24
Ordinary precautions. No systematic device search, network restriction or prosecution of visitors for online speech is evidenced.

Government travel advice is written for one citizenry, so the same country carries a different assessment depending on your passport. Change it in the header.

Showing the baseline, which weights every issuer equally. No government in our corpus publishes travel advice written for you, so this is not addressed to you specifically.

Dimensions

Each dimension is scored independently, because the traveller who cares about legal exposure for what they have posted is often not the one carrying client data. Higher means more risk.

Surveillance and interception

How comprehensively are communications intercepted, retained, and monitored, and is commercial spyware in use?

51High51 of 100, High band, 50 to 74

good confidence9 independent sources

Why this score (14 sources)

  • Freedom House 2026 scored CAN 4 of 4 on freedom to express personal views on sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution.

    Freedom House, Freedom in the World · observed 2026-01-01

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored CAN 2.99 of 4 on how comprehensively the government monitors social media and private online communication, where higher is freer.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored CAN 3.47 of 4 on how far privacy protection law shields communications from government access, where higher is freer. This measures what privacy law permits rather than what monitoring is practised, so it is read here as a constraint on interception rather than a measurement of it.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2025 scored CAN 0.93 of 1 on whether freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy is effectively guaranteed, a measure built from expert assessments of warrantless interception of communications.

    World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index, sub-factor 4.6 · observed 2025-01-01

  • As drafted, the bill could require companies like Meta to build or maintain capabilities that break, weaken, or circumvent encryption or other zero-knowledge security architectures, and force providers to install government spyware directly on their systems,

    Rappler, via a site scoped search · observed 2026-05-08 · extracted by language model

  • If adopted, it would expand investigative powers available to law enforcement and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) by lowering the threshold for law enforcement agencies to gain access to personal data and communications of people in Canada.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2026-07-21 · extracted by language model

  • Parsons highlighted, among others, the revelations that Canada’s signals intelligence agency, Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), was involved in the mass domestic monitoring of communications data, which led to issues of privacy and surveillance being discussed publicly, as well as in the Senate and the House of Commons.

    Citizen Lab feed · observed 2025-12-01 · extracted by language model

  • Facial images of all people located within 13 feet of an officer’s camera will be sent to a police database to be compared with the flagged mugshots, police reportedly said.

    The Record feed · observed 2025-12-03 · extracted by language model

  • The proposal includes expansions of border technologies, including RCMP counterintelligence, 24/7 surveillance between ports of entry, helicopters, drones and mobile towers.

    The Conversation, via a site scoped search · observed 2024-12-19 · extracted by language model

  • The billboards, located near Toronto’s Union Station, reportedly analyze only the age and gender of passerbys, according to their owner, Cineplex Digital Media (CDM).

    The Record feed · observed 2025-12-12 · extracted by language model

  • The civil society organisations stated that the review did not explain why fewer than 5 per cent of Palestine solidarity demonstrations in 2024 resulted in recorded legal violations, while more than 68 per cent of all police surveillance drone deployments at protests in the same year targeted Palestine solidarity actions.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2025-11-16 · extracted by language model

  • They include a proposed aerial surveillance task force, including helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers between ports of entry.

    The National (Papua New Guinea), via a site scoped search · observed 2024-12-18 · extracted by language model

  • This is the third time the current Canadian government has sought to pass sweeping surveillance powers, allowing federal law enforcement to request information from messaging platforms without informing their users.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2026-07-21 · extracted by language model

  • In 2024, York and Peel regional police in Ontario started using facial recognition software to, in the words of York Police Const. Kevin Nebrija, “help speed up investigations and to identify suspects sooner.”

    The Conversation, via a site scoped search · observed 2026-03-09 · extracted by language model

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Network threat

How hostile is the network environment to a foreign visitor, from state actors and criminals alike?

24Low24 of 100, Low band, 0 to 24

good confidence3 independent sourcesEvidence is ageing: contributing sources are weighted at 66% of full strength.

Why this score (3 sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Encryption and VPN legality

Are VPNs and strong encryption lawful, and can I be required to install an application or hand over keys?

24Low24 of 100, Low band, 0 to 24

good confidence5 independent sources

Why this score (5 sources)

  • Minimal restrictions. According to Canada's constitution everyone has the right to be secure against "unreasonable search or seizure” and the government of Canada has recognised that these rights would be engaged by any restrictions relating to encryption. There is no legislative power which can be used to require individuals to decrypt encrypted communications and the federal government has recognised that it has no legislative authority to compel individuals to provide a password in the course of a criminal investigation. However, law enforcement may attempt circumvent the protections afforded by encryption or to

    Global Partners Digital, World Map of Encryption Laws and Policies · observed 2019-06-01

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored CAN 3.86 of 4 on whether the government regulates the internet in a way consistent with international human rights standards, where higher is freer. This does not establish whether encryption or VPN use is lawful. It measures internet regulation in general, and is used as indirect evidence because the only survey that reads encryption law directly was published in 2019.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • OONI confirmed blocking on 84 of 246,759 measurements of anonymity and censorship circumvention tools in CAN over the 90 days to 2026-10-16, a confirmed blocking rate of 0.03 percent, with 11,696 further results inconclusive.

    Open Observatory of Network Interference, OONI measurement data · observed 2026-10-16

  • Apple and Meta have publicly opposed a Canadian bill that the companies say could require them to break the encryption of their devices and services if passed.

    Rappler, via a site scoped search · observed 2026-05-08 · extracted by language model

  • The tech firms argue it sets up a regulatory landscape in which they could be issued secret orders to build a backdoor into their services or devices without disclosing that backdoor to users or the public.

    MyJoyOnline, via a site scoped search · observed 2026-05-27 · extracted by language model

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Speech and legal exposure

What legal risk attaches to what I have said online, or say while I am there?

23Low23 of 100, Low band, 0 to 24

good confidence6 independent sources

Why this score (8 sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Data jurisdiction

What happens to corporate or client data I carry into the jurisdiction?

19Low19 of 100, Low band, 0 to 24

moderate confidence1 independent source

Why this score (1 source)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Connectivity continuity

How likely am I to lose access to the internet, or to the specific tools I depend on?

12Low12 of 100, Low band, 0 to 24

good confidence6 independent sources

Why this score (7 sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

1 excluded source
  • MyJoyOnline, via a site scoped search, observed 2023-12-01: aged out after 3 years.

Border device risk

How likely is my device to be searched, imaged, or seized at the border, and can I be compelled to unlock it?

10Low10 of 100, Low band, 0 to 24

good confidence4 independent sources

No reports were found of devices being searched, imaged or seized at this border, or of travellers being compelled to unlock them. The score below is drawn from general indicators for this country rather than from anything observed about this risk, so it describes an absence of reports rather than evidence that the risk is absent.

What the score rests on (4 indirect sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Trend

02550751002026-08-162026-10-16

The overall score is up 4.2 points over 61 days, from 18.9 to 23.1. Most movement is the event overlay decaying rather than anything happening: a news signal loses half its weight every three weeks, so a score drifts back toward its structural baseline on its own. A step that holds is the one worth reading.

Check this yourself

These are not inputs to the score for Canada. They are where to look if you want to test what is above against something we did not use.

Sources

This assessment draws on 18 sources: Auswärtiges Amt, Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise; Citizen Lab feed; CIVICUS Monitor country updates; Freedom House, Freedom in the World; Freedom House, Freedom on the Net, obstacles to access; Global Partners Digital, World Map of Encryption Laws and Policies; International Telecommunication Union, Global Cybersecurity Index; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Overseas travel safety information; MyJoyOnline, via a site scoped search; Open Observatory of Network Interference, OONI measurement data; Rappler, via a site scoped search; The Conversation, via a site scoped search; The National (Papua New Guinea), via a site scoped search; The Record feed; UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Foreign travel advice; US Department of State, Travel Advisories; V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project; World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index, sub-factor 4.6. Every contributing claim is quoted with its origin and date above. Model version 0.12.0, computed 2026-10-16.

If something here is wrong, say so. Corrections are handled in public, and we correct because the evidence is wrong, not because someone objects.