The Pursuit of Happiness: Canada Drops a Spot in United Nation’s Annual Report

Canadians are often mocked for being overly friendly, but being the butt of everyone’s jokes suddenly doesn’t seem worth it.

‘Cause last year we were in the Top 5 countries in the United Nation’s World Happiness Report. And this year, no longer.

That’s right, this year we’ve come in 6th thanks to…Finland?

Really? Really?!

Meanwhile, Denmark overtook Switzerland as the world’s happiest place to live, with Iceland and Norway coming in 3rd and 4th respectively. Finland, as mentioned, is in our spot from last year.

If you expect us to accept this outrage with grace and offer our sincerest best wishes and maybe even apologized for holding that ranking last year…you’re probably right.

The fourth annual World Happiness Ranking measured happiness in 157 countries by gathering data that asked people from around the world to rate their lives from 0 to 10 (on a variety of factors), including: life expectancy, having someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption, generosity, and higher gross domestic product per capita.

Based on the responses to the questions, Canadians are happier than those living in the United States and the United Kingdom. While on the opposite side of the ranking, African nations Togo and Burundi, alongside Syria, ranked at the bottom of the 157 countries measured.

“The rankings show both consistency and change,” said study co-editor John Helliwell, a professor of economics at the University of British Columbia. “The consistency at the top reflects mainly that life evaluations are based on life circumstances that usually evolve slowly, and that are all at high levels in the top countries.”

This new report comes out just before World Happiness Day on March 20.

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