canadians aren't as happy as they were 10 years ago

the world happiness report has canada among the top 15 happiest countries in the world, but we once sat in fifth place.

by emma jones

published mar 18, 2022

last updated feb 17, 2023

4 minute read

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4 minute read

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canada continues 'substantial fall' in world happiness rankings

although, canada is still ranked among the happiest countries in the world, it seems that our cheer has been consistently waning. getty

the annual rankings of countries that are the happiest were released friday, and while canada is in the top 15 out of 146 countries, we continue to experience a “substantial fall.” this marks the 10^th anniversary of the world happiness report. published by the united nations sustainable development solutions network, rankings are mostly based on life evaluations from the gallup world poll. scores are pulled from indicators like healthy life expectancy, social trust, corruption, freedom to make key life decisions, gdp per capita and community support.

and although canada is still ranked among the happiest countries in the world, it seems that our cheer has been consistently waning. ten years ago, in the first world happiness ranking report, canada ranked as the 5^th happiest country in the world. last year we ranked 11^th.

this comes on the heels of the release of lifework’s mental health index, which reported that the general psychological health of canadians is at the lowest point in almost two years (23 months). canadian’s feelings of optimism has taken a bit of a hit as well: at its lowest point in a year and still significantly lower than the 2020 benchmark.

globally, citizens feel more inclined to support each other

unexpectedly, the pandemic era has seen a rise in the global sense of coming together. benevolence — donating to charity, helping a stranger and volunteering — saw a 25 per cent increase from the year before.

“the big surprise was that globally, in an uncoordinated way, there have been very large rises in all the three forms of benevolence that are asked about in the gallup world poll,” john helliwell, one of the editors of the report, told cnn travel.

the rise in benevolence may have also helped push back against the spike in worry and stress seen soon after the start of the pandemic. in 2020, worry and stress had rose by eight per cent over pre-pandemic levels, while in 2021 this rating was only 4 per cent higher.

helliwell mused that we often underestimate how people will bond in times of crisis, so actively seeing communities coming together raises our opinions of fellow citizens, according to ctv news. think of the “buy local” campaigns that swept canadian cities in the early months of the pandemic.

“you find both trust in others and general life evaluations often rise in times when you think ‘these are bad times,’ but what’s happening is people are working together to deal with them,” helliwell said.

nordic countries stack top ten

for the 5^th year in a row, finland ranks first in the world. four other nordic countries also ranked in the top ten: denmark at number two, iceland is third, sweden at number seven and norway in eighth place. the top ten list was rounded out by switzerland (4^th), netherlands (5^th), luxembourg (6^th), israel (9^th) and new zealand (10^th).

the u.s. comes just below canada at number 16, with the u.k. taking 19^th place.

the dark side of happy

but some research indicates there may be a dark side to living in a very happy country. brock bastian, a social psychologist and professor at the university of melbourne, writes that higher societal pressure to be happy may actually increase the severity of depression and other indicators of poor mental health. a possible explanation is that when someone with symptoms of depression is surrounded by a sea of happy people, it can reinforce feelings of social isolation and increase the pressure to also be happy.

play-by-play of how we reacted to the news

the report also included a social media analysis, highlighting the emotions citizens felt at key periods throughout the last few years. news of the late nba star kobe bryant’s death preceded a sharp rise in canadians and americans expressing sadness on twitter, a polarizing election in spain saw a spike in expressions of anger and anxiety in the country, as did the assassination of iranian military officer qasem soleimani. unsurprisingly, the initial spikes of covid-19 cases correlated with a rise in anxiety as it occurred in each country.

a sobering reminder

although the surveys were completed before russia’s invasion of ukraine, the two countries were both ranked fairly low, with russia at 80, while ukraine sat at 98.

at the bottom of the list, number 146, is afghanistan, “a stark reminder of the material and immaterial damage that war does to its many victims,” jan-emmanuel de neve, one of the editors of the report, said in a press release.

emma jones is a multimedia editor with healthing. you can reach her at emjones@postmedia.com or on twitter @jonesyjourn.

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canadians aren't as happy as they were 10 years ago

the world happiness report has canada among the top 15 happiest countries in the world, but we once sat in fifth place.

globally, citizens feel more inclined to support each other

even 10 minutes with a dog can reduce pain, anxiety