Canada slips out of global top tier for freedom after years of Liberal overreach
Once ranked among the world’s freest countries under Stephen Harper, Canada now sits 12th as emergency powers, financial crackdowns, and speech regulation reshape the national record on liberty.
Canada has slipped out of the world’s top tier of free countries after years of steady decline, according to the latest Human Freedom Index, a shift that reflects real changes in how the federal government treats dissent, speech, and financial independence.
Under former prime minister Stephen Harper, Canada consistently ranked among the top ten freest countries globally, reaching as high as sixth in some years. Those rankings were based not on ideology but on data, measuring rule of law, freedom of expression and association, property rights, regulatory burden, and economic liberty.
In the most recent index, Canada sits at 12th place.
While still ahead of most countries, the drop marks a clear departure from Canada’s former status as a global leader on freedom.
The Human Freedom Index evaluates not just laws on the books, but how governments behave under pressure, particularly when facing protest or dissent.
February 2022 was a turning point.
During the Freedom Convoy protests, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time against its own citizens during a non-violent demonstration. The response went beyond policing, extending into financial measures that saw bank accounts frozen without warrants, donations flagged, and financial services restricted for individuals who never set foot in Ottawa.
Once financial access can be cut off to suppress protest, rights become conditional, and dissent carries tangible penalties.
Canada has also enacted a series of internet and media regulations. Bill C-11 expanded CRTC authority over online content promotion, while Bill C-18 led to news link restrictions by major platforms, reducing access and distribution. Further legislation aimed at expanding hate-speech and “harmful content” enforcement within churches is now under debate.
While these measures don’t ban speech outright, they regulate the systems that distribute it, making dissent technically legal but practically discouraged.
Globally, freedom has declined for nearly 90 per cent of the world’s population. Canada, once resistant to that trend, is now moving with it.
Canada remains free, just less so than before. And the rankings are catching up to the reality.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.
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COMMENTS
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Peter Wrenshall commented 2025-12-19 12:19:15 -0500The Trudeau government’s reaction to the Freedom Convoy was a huge blow to our liberties, but I don’t agree with Sheila when she says it was the first one. To me, the actual demarche occurred in 2020-21 during the COVID crisis, when governments at levels cracked down on our freedom of movement and association and put in place authoritarian vaccine mandates backed by threats of loss of employment. Then there were the petty, invasive, but in fact useless, mask mandates. -
Susan Ashbrook commented 2025-12-18 22:46:39 -0500Bernhard, it’s said that the apple does not fall far from the tree. See any similarities?
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Bernhard Jatzeck commented 2025-12-18 21:57:54 -0500We can thank PET and his imposition of martial law in 1970 for starting this trend.
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Bruce Atchison commented 2025-12-18 19:46:12 -0500God help Canada! If this trend continues and red boomers keep voting Liberal, life will get worse and worse. This is also a reminder of why Alberta MUST become independent. If not for the prairie provinces, Canada would go bankrupt. Confederation is a failed experiment.
