The way immigrants are welcomed to Canada was one of the key factors in the country coming second in the world in a new social ranking index.

In the ‘Tolerance for Immigrants’ section of the 2016 Social Progress Index, Canada was second only to New Zealand.

This achievement is made more remarkable by the diversity of the society here, according to the compiler of the league table.

Canada also scored well for its low rate of violent crime and terrorism.

Finland took top spot overall in the 2016 Social Progress Index, with Canada, Denmark, Australia and Switzerland completing the top five.

Social Progress Index 2016: Top 5 Countries

1. Finland
2. Canada
3. Denmark
4. Australia
5. Switzerland

Canada’s score for ‘Tolerance and Inclusion’, which also included acceptance of homosexuality and religion, saw it finish fifth in the category.

“Some countries can get a high score because they are fairly homogenous,” said Michael Green, the executive director of the Social Progress Imperative.

“Canada is big and diverse and is still the fifth highest. Canada has somehow found a good mix, a good solution to this hard problem that other countries could learn from.”

Selected Results: Canada

• Tolerance for immigrants: 2^nd
• Tolerance and inclusion: 5^th
• Level of violent crime: 1^st
• Political terror: 1^st
• Access to advanced education: 1^st
• Environmental quality: 32^nd
• Obesity rate: 94^th
• Cellphone subscriptions: 102^nd
• Availability of affordable housing: 44^th

Elsewhere, Canada excelled in the ‘Access to Advanced Education’ category, coming out first overall in areas such as numbers of students going on to university, the quality of schools and gender equity.

The index considers data from a range of organisations, including the United Nations, World Bank and Gallup World Poll, to rank 133 countries on a variety of social factors.

Canada rose from sixth last year, although it didn’t score as well in categories including environmental quality and access to information.

An obesity ranking of 94^th also showed room for improvement for Canada, while the index also highlighted a low rate of cellphone use (102^nd) and lack of affordable housing (44^th).

The index is becoming a popular reference by policy makers, particularly in the European Union.

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