What to know
- Canada has been ranked 25th in the world in the 2026 World Happiness Report, falling from 18th place.
- Finland is ranked number one for the ninth year in a row.
- Finnish expat Liisa Qureshi says the Finnish’s satisfaction with life is due to strong social benefits, trust in the government, and gender equality.
Canada has officially been ranked the 25th happiest country in the world.
On Wednesday, the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford released the 2026 World Happiness Report, ranking countries based on a single criteria, the Cantril Ladder.
Researchers ask participants — an average of 100,000 people in 140 countries and territories — this question:
“Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?”
In the 2025 report, Canada ranked at number 18 while the United States ranked at 24. In the last year, Canada has dropped seven places and the U.S. rose one spot to 23. Researchers say heavy social media use is partly to blame for the drop.
To figure out why Canadians feel less satisfied with life, Now Toronto polled some Torontonians.
Neha points to the “cold and depressing” weather while her friend Jennah says the drop in happiness is due to the rising cost of goods.
“Gas prices and taxes are really insane. So I think that’s contributing, especially in the last year.”
Meanwhile, Gabi attributes the decrease in happiness to Canada’s place in the messy geopolitical climate.
“With everything going on in the world right now, Canadians aren’t in the best place they could be in.”
Finland’s on top
For the ninth year in a row, Finland took the number one spot. Its Nordic neighbours are also high on the list, with Iceland coming in at number two, Denmark at number three, Sweden at number five, and Norway at number six.
Liisa Qureshi, the editor-in-chief at Kanadan Sanomat, an online news outlet aimed at informing Finnish people across Canada, says Finns are not necessarily the happiest people in the world, but the most satisfied.
“People don’t realise that it’s not about emotion and how happy one feels. The question is asking how satisfied you are in your life,” Qureshi explains.
She says Finns and Scandinavian people in general have realistic expectations. And when people don’t overly expect things, things can’t fall short of their expectations and they’re naturally satisfied with how things go.
But Finland also fosters a system of trust that helps its residents be realists. Qureshi says the nation has a long history of low corruption, freedom of speech and press freedom.
“We generally trust the system. We have low corruption and we trust how the governmental system works.”
Finland also has strong gender equality. In 1906, it gave women the right to vote and run for parliament, becoming the first country and the first in the European Union to do so. Finland’s former Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, is a woman.
Qureshi also points to the low income inequality and wealth gap in Finland. She says there are few millionaires and a low poverty rate.
“In Finland, there’s a small income gap if you think about the whole population. We have only a very small number of millionaires. And then we have a small number [of people] barely making [it], because the social system is fairly good,” she explains.
Tax rates in European countries are infamous for being high, sometimes up to 50 per cent of a person’s salary, but Qureshi says the majority of people don’t complain because they get an abundance of social benefits in return.
“And that translates to stability, because they don’t have to individually worry,” she says. “Over here, let’s say you only pay 25 per cent in taxes but then it’s up to you to make sure you’re going to save enough money for kids to go to school.”
She says the higher taxes in Finland go towards taking care of citizens. She says Finnish and E.U. nationals get free university and kids get free school meals. She adds dental is also free for the kids until they turn 18.
