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Category: Security (Page 4 of 7)

Canadians have the world’s 7th-most valuable passport – up from 8th in last year’s rankings

2023-07-24 /

According to the much respected Henley Passport Index, which ranks the world’s passports based on official data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), 🇨🇦 Canadians can claim the world’s 7th-most valuable passport this year – up from 8th last year. Canada had been ranked 8th since 2021.

In a bit of a shakeup, 🇯🇵 Japan has been knocked off the top spot on the Henley Passport Index for the first time in five years and bumped into 3rd place. 🇸🇬 Singapore is now officially the most powerful passport in the world, with its citizens able to visit 192 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free. 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇮🇹 Italy, and 🇪🇸 Spain all move up into 2nd place with visa-free access to 190 destinations, and Japanese passport holders join those of six other nations — 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇫🇷 France, 🇱🇺 Luxembourg, 🇰🇷 South Korea, and 🇸🇪 Sweden — in 3rd place with access to189 destinations without a prior visa.
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The Economist names Vienna the world’s most liveable city for 2023, while Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto remain in the top 10

2023-07-22 /

Vienna has retained its crown as the world’s most liveable city, according to Economist’s annual index.

The 2023 Global Liveability Index quantifies the challenges presented to an individual’s lifestyle and standard of living in 173 cities worldwide. The 2023 Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual ranking has also included three Canadian cities among the worlds top 10 most liveable. Australia and Switzerland each have 2 entries. Denmark, Japan, and New Zealand each had one city in the top rankings.

1. Vienna 🇦🇹
2. Copenhagen 🇩🇰
3. Melbourne 🇦🇺
4. Sydney 🇦🇺
5. Vancouver 🇨🇦
6. Zurich 🇨🇭
7. Calgary 🇨🇦 (tie)
7. Geneva 🇨🇭 (tie)
9. Toronto 🇨🇦
10. Osaka 🇯🇵 (tie)
10. Auckland 🇳🇿 (tie)

The Global Liveability Index 2023: optimism amid instability

The Economist »

Canada and other nations require more immigrants to counter shifting demographics

2023-07-18 /

The Desjardins report confirms that our aging demographics makes the case for increased immigration if we want to grow Canada’s economy.

The Canadian Press via National Observer »

Canada’s population grew by more than one million people last year, a record for the country. Its total population grew by 2.7 per cent, the fastest rate since 1957.

The strong population growth comes as the Liberal government eyes higher annual immigration targets, which would see the country welcome 500,000 immigrants per year by 2025.

Proponents of higher immigration argue that the labour market is able to absorb more workers, and the country needs more working-age Canadians to support the tax base as more people retire.

“We need immigration at a relatively high rate, actually, in order to offset the economic impacts of aging _ to be able to pay for the health care that Canadian seniors are going to need,” Bartlett said.

Meanwhile » China too needs immigrants

China is entering a severe demographic crisis.

For several centuries, the Asian nation has been the most populous country in the world. But it is now shrinking. In 2022, the country registered more deaths than births, and it will soon be surpassed by India in total population size – indeed, many demographers believe this has already occurred.

Increasing monopoly power poses a threat to Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery

2023-07-16 /

The Conversation »

The grocery industry is dominated by five major players — Loblaws, Metro, Empire (the owner of Sobeys), Walmart and Costco. These five companies account for over three-quarters of all food sales in Canada.

The Bureau recommended four policies to encourage competition in the sector. These include establishing a grocery innovation strategy, encouraging new independent and international players, introducing legislation for consistent unit pricing and limiting property controls.

Canada’s safest cities

2023-07-15 /

A new report by Rentol.ca calculates that Ontario has some of the safest urban areas in the entire country, with Barrie securing the top spot. In fact, eight Ontario cities made up the top ten, according to the report.

The analysis looked at a number of different factors in order to compile the ranking, including the number of citizens per police officer, crime severity, the amount of violent and non-violent crimes, and the crime-solving rate.

Saint John, New Brunswick was the highest ranking city outside of Ontario, ranking in 5th overall.

Lethbridge, Alberta was the only other city outside of Ontario to rank in the top 10.  Alberta’s next safest cities, were Calgary in 20th, followed by Edmonton in 21st overall.

The reviewers concluded that while Québec City exhibits the lowest crime rate, it scored lower as “a significant portion of the crimes committed within the area are of a violent nature, and the ratio of its police force to the area’s population remains relatively small. Therefore, when compared to Lethbridge, which possesses the highest crime index, Québec City appears less secure.”

While Lethbridge has the highest crime rate among all Canadian metropolitan areas, “the majority of the offenses perpetrated are classified as non-violent.” The report goes on to state that, “Lethbridge maintains a sufficient number of police officers to ensure a high rate of crime detection.”

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