Canada’s press freedom record has fallen significantly in the last 10 years — new figures from the World Press Freedom Index place Canada at #21. Canada’s ranking fell from #14 on the list of 180 countries in 2024. Prior to the Trudeau Liberals’ governance in 2015, Canada sat comfortably at #8 on the list. Canada’s score dropped from 81.7 points out of 100 last year to 78.75 in 2025.The annual Index, conducted by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), evaluates the freedom journalists have to report openly without oppression and external pressures, namely from the government. .RSF warned global press freedom overall hit a new low, with a combined average score of less than 55 points, and more than 60% saw a decline. The international organization said press freedom around the world is now categorized as a “difficult situation” — for the first time in history.Factors attributed to the decline in press freedom include media dominance by tech and social media giants, and the subsequent eroding of advertising revenues for media outlets.“News outlets are shutting down due to economic hardship in nearly a third of countries globally,” said RSF.RSF further pointed to the increasing number of “danger zones” in various regions across the world, which bring down the average freedom score, as do the “propaganda war” where unverified “news” is published on social media..The Index found press freedom is highest in Europe, though even that region is “mixed.”Germany has a “record number of cases of violence against journalists and arrests,” while Poland has increased in press freedom, as has France.“Greece, where journalists were spied on by the intelligence services and by powerful spyware, continues to have the EU’s lowest ranking,” wrote RSF.The Americas “no longer has any country coloured green on the press freedom map,” and Africa, though sees a few rises in press freedom, “journalism overall has become more difficult in this continent and the situation is now classified as “bad” in nearly 40% of its countries.”“The Asia-Pacific continues to have some of the world’s worst regimes for journalists”“The Middle East and North Africa continue to be the world’s most dangerous region for journalists, with a situation classified as “very bad” in more than half of its countries.”.Anne Bocandé, RSF Editorial Director, said, “Guaranteeing freedom, independence and plurality in today’s media landscape requires stable and transparent financial conditions.”“Without economic independence, there can be no free press. When news media are financially strained, they are drawn into a race to attract audiences at the expense of quality reporting, and can fall prey to the oligarchs and public authorities who seek to exploit them,” said Bocandé.“When journalists are impoverished, they no longer have the means to resist the enemies of the press — those who champion disinformation and propaganda.”“The media economy must urgently be restored to a state that is conducive to journalism and ensures the production of reliable information, which is inherently costly. Solutions exist and must be deployed on a large scale. The media’s financial independence is a necessary condition for ensuring free, trustworthy information that serves the public interest.”.Top 25 Countries With Most Free Press 2025#1 – Norway – 92.31#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
