Canada Ranks 21st on World Press Freedom Index 2025

Top 25 Countries With Most "Free" Press (2025)

#1 – Norway – 92.31/100...
#2 – Estonia – 89.46
#3 – Netherlands – 88.64
#4 – Sweden – 88.13
#5 – Finland – 87.18
#6 – Denmark – 86.93
#7 – Ireland – 86.92
#8 – Portugal – 84.26
#9 – Switzerland – 83.98
#10 – Czechia – 93.96
#11 – Germany – 83.85
#12 – Liechtenstein – 83.42
#13 – Luxembourg – 83.04
#14 – Lithuania – 82.27
#15 – Latvia – 81.82
#16 – New Zealand – 81.37
#17 – Iceland – 81.36
#18 – Belgium – 80.12
#19 – Trinidad & Tobago – 79.71
#20 – United Kingdom – 78.89
#21 – Canada – 78.85
#22 – Austria – 78.12
#23 – Spain – 77.35
#24 – Taiwan – 77.04
#25 – France – 76.62

World Press Freedom Index 2025: Highlights

• Press freedom globally is now classified as a “difficult situation” for the first time in the index’s history, with the economic indicator at its lowest point ever recorded, 55 points for all countries combined
• In 160 out of 180 countries, media outlets achieve financial stability “with difficulty” or “not at all”; nearly one-third of countries saw news outlets shut down due to economic hardship
• The global average score in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index fell below 55, entering the “difficult” category for the first time in history
• Media concentration and dominance by tech giants (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft) have eroded advertising revenues, intensifying financial pressures on journalism
• Editorial independence is at risk: In over half of surveyed countries, media owners “always” or “often” interfere editorially, and ownership is highly concentrated in 46 countries
• The United States saw the economic indicator drop by more than 14 points in two years, with local journalism especially impacted—“vast regions” are becoming news deserts
• Journalists in zones like Gaza (Palestine, 163rd), Syria, and Iran face deadly threats
• 34 countries experienced mass media closures and journalist exiles, especially Nicaragua, Belarus, Iran, Myanmar, Sudan, Azerbaijan, and Afghanistan
• Even top-ranked countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and France face concerning trends of ownership concentration and shrinking editorial diversity
• For the first time, over half the world’s population lives in countries classified as “difficult” or “very serious” for press freedom, and the situation is worsening in all regions except a few EU states

Canada's Press Freedom in 2025

• Overall – 21/180 – 78.75/100
• Political Indicator – 14/180 – 86.23/100
• Economic Indicator – 24/180 – 63.27/100
• Legislative Indicator – 22/180 – 81.73/100
• Social Indicator – 33/180 – 78.11/100
• Security Indicator – 55/180 – 87.66/100

Quick Summary

• Canada ranks 21st in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index, dropping from 14th in 2024, with its score and overall conditions worsening over the past year
• Economic fragility is a rising threat: Canadian media face increasing concentration of ownership and financial struggles, challenging editorial independence and plurality
• Access to information remains inconsistent, with some government institutions accused of opacity and delays that impede the work of journalists
• Journalists in Canada encounter harassment, online threats, and physical intimidation, particularly when reporting on sensitive or polarizing topics
• Despite these challenges, Canada’s legal framework generally protects press freedom, but practical obstacles—including economic instability and hostility towards journalists—have undermined its leading position

While Canada continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to international press freedom protections and practices, RSF says there is more room for progress in the country, particularly concerning press coverage involving the rights of Indigenous Peoples and land disputes.

World Press Freedom Index: Methodology

World Press Freedom Index Map 2024

How does RSF calculate world press freedom? According to the report:

"Press freedom is defined as the ability of journalists as individuals and collectives to select, produce, and disseminate news in the public interest, independent of political, economic, legal, and social interference and in the absence of threats to their physical and mental safety."

The RSF breaks down these scores into five distinct categories or indicators, including:

• Political context
• Sociocultural context
• Economic context
• Legal framework
• Safety

A score between 0 and 100 is assigned to each country by the RSF and its panel of experts, with a higher score indicating a better level of press freedom. This score is calculated based on two components:

1. a quantitative tally of abuses against media and journalists in connection with their work, and
2. a qualitative analysis of the situation in each country or territory based on responses from press freedom specialists including journalists, researchers, academics and human rights defenders to an RSF questionnaire available in 24 languages.

Five Categories & Indicators

Five contextual indicators are utilized to evaluate the press freedom situation for each country or territory, according to RSF. These indicators reflect the multifaceted nature of press freedom: political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context, and safety.

For each indicator, a sub-score is calculated on a scale ranging from 0 to 100. These subsidiary scores are equally weighted and contribute equally to a nation's overall score. Additionally, all questions and sub-questions within each indicator hold the same weight.

Political context is evaluated using 33 questions and sub-questions to assess:

1. the degree of support and respect for media autonomy regarding political pressure from the state or other political actors
2. the level of acceptance of various journalistic practices aligned with political standards, thereby satisfying professional standards
3. the degree of support for the media in their role of holding politicians and governments accountable in the public interest.

Legal framework of a country or territory is evaluated using 25 questions and sub-questions to determine:

1. the degree to which journalists and media are free to work without censorship or judicial sanctions, or excessive restrictions on their freedom of expression
2. evaluate the ability to access information without discrimination between journalists
3. the ability to protect sources, as well as the presence or absence of impunity for those responsible for acts of violence against journalists.

The economic context for each nation is evaluated using 25 questions and sub-questions to assess:

1. economic constraints linked to governmental policies (including the difficulty of creating a news media outlet, favouritism in the allocation of state subsidies, and corruption).
2. economic constraints linked to media owners who seek to promote and defend their business interests
3. economic constraints linked to non-state actors such as advertisers and business partners.

Sociocultural context is evaluated using 22 questions and sub-questions to determine:

1. social and cultural constraints faced by the press. Social constraints resulting from attacks on the press based on issues such as gender, class, ethnicity, and religion
2. cultural constraints, including pressure on journalists not to question power or influence or not to cover specific issues because it would run counter to the prevailing culture in the country or territory.

Safety encompasses 12 questions and sub-questions, representing two-thirds of the safety score. It is evaluated in the context of journalists' safety, and press freedom is defined as the ability to identify, gather and disseminate news and information in accordance with journalistic methods and ethics without unnecessary risk of

1. bodily harm, psychological or emotional distress that could result from intimidation, coercion, harassment, and other threats targeting journalists.
2. protection from theft of professional equipment or ransacking of installations and the possibility of losing their jobs.

Why It Matters

Canada, a major exporter of many natural resources with growing global demand, is one of the few remaining democratic bastions worldwide with strong protections for human rights and relatively high levels of regulatory transparency. We're not perfect, but compared to the rest of the world's most resource-rich nations, we rank among the highest on several social- and governance-related indices.

As long as the world needs Canada's natural resources – softwood, minerals, energy, or food – our country's stable and reliable resource production means we should be a go-to supplier of choice. Let's face it; it does matter where you get your natural resources from, something that Europe and other nations abroad were reminded of in early 2022.

More Canadian natural resources on global markets are good for Canada’s economy, our families, and the world!

Join Us Today!

We invite you to join us online to learn more about Canada's natural resource sectors on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook today -- we hope to see you there!

Canada ranks 5th on the annual Freedom in the World 2025 Report, among the highest of the world’s top resource exporters.https://t.co/Rc3hA7cBZ2

— Canada Action (@CanadaAction) May 8, 2025