Canada is one of the very safest countries in the world. In fact it is considered the 6th most peaceful, stable and crime free country in the world.
Earlier this year South Africa reported more than 19,000 murders in 2016… That’s 67 per 100,000 residents. In the same year 611 people were murdered in Canada – that’s slightly more than 1,5 people per 100,000 of the country’s population. In South Africa 52 people are murdered every day. This means that within a matter of 12 days more people are killed through violent acts in South Africa than in a whole year in Canada. It would take 31 years for the same number of people to be killed in Canada as are killed in South Africa every single year.
It then comes as no surprise then that when migrants are asked what their motivation for leaving the country is; violence and crime always feature amongst their most pressing reasons. These would-be migrants have very often been touched by crime themselves or have close family or friends who have suffered a violent ordeal. With no signs of improvement and a continued threat on their lives increasingly more South Africans are looking to escape a life of looking over your shoulder, living behind high fences and suffering sleepless nights.
A popular option for South Africans is Canada. Besides the fact that Canada offers first world services and infra structure, jobs and growth opportunities it is also rated one of the safest places on earth that you could find yourself.
The safest countries in the world have been revealed in the latest Global Peace Index, which ranks major nations by how peaceful they are ranks Canada in the number 6 spot, in stark contract South Africa ranked 106th on the list which is in the bottom 40% of the rankings.
The report, published by think tank the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranked 163 countries by 23 factors, including murder rate, political terror, and deaths from internal conflict.
For an 11th consecutive year, the northern European nation of Iceland is ranked as the world’s safest place.
Canada has also remained firmly featured on the list for many years.
The index ranks countries from high to low, so the lower the number, the safer the country.
Here is the list of the safest 30 countries:
30. Spain — 1.678
29. Botswana — 1.659
28. Chile — 1.649
27. Croatia — 1.639
26. Bulgaria — 1.635
25. Malaysia — 1.619
24. Romania — 1.596
23. The Netherlands — 1.574
22. Slovakia — 1.568
21. Belgium — 1.560
20. Mauritius — 1.548
19. Bhutan — 1.545
17. Hungary — 1.531
17. Germany — 1.531
16. Norway — 1.519
15. Finland — 1.506
14. Sweden — 1.502
13. Australia — 1.435
12. Switzerland — 1.407
11. Slovenia — 1.396
10. Ireland — 1.393
9. Japan — 1.391
8. Singapore — 1.382
7. Czech Republic — 1.381
6. Canada — 1.372
5. Denmark — 1.35
4. Portugal — 1.318
3. Austria — 1.274
2. New Zealand — 1.192
1. Iceland — 1.09
Source: Business Insider UK, Wikipedia, homeaffairs.gov.ca,