--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/the-human-development-index-in-canada-ranking-the-provinces-and-territories-internationally/" title: "The Human Development Index in Canada: Ranking the Provinces and Territories Internationally" author: name: "shomp" url: "https://csls.ca/author/shomp/" date_published: "2025-10-10T10:00:00+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-16T15:36:18+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "Canada ranks relatively well by global standards in the Human Development Index, but there are substantial and persistent regional disparities across the country." post_tag: - "Canadian provinces" - "education" - "HDI" - "Human Development Index" - "income" - "international ranking" - "life expectancy" - "territories" country_focus: - "Multi-country" province_region: - "Multi-province" research_category: - "Well-being" research_theme: - "Economic Well-Being" - "Regional Economic Development" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/CSLS-Research-Report-2025-03-Cover-Image.webp" status: "publish" --- # The Human Development Index in Canada: Ranking the Provinces and Territories Internationally Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/the-human-development-index-in-canada-ranking-the-provinces-and-territories-internationally/ # The Human Development Index in Canada: Ranking the Provinces and Territories Internationally [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2025-03-1.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Shariati, Alisaleh. 2025. “The Human Development Index in Canada: Ranking the Provinces and Territories Internationally.” CSLS Research Report 2025-03. Ottawa: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. https://csls.ca/research/the-human-development-index-in-canada-ranking-the-provinces-and-territories-internationally/ ## Author: - Alisaleh Shariati Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2025-03 October 2025 44 pages ## Related research [Closing the First Nations Education Gap in Canada: Assessing Progress and Estimating the Economic Benefits — An Update Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) February 2023 | Report 2023-01 | 101 pages](https://csls.ca/research/closing-the-first-nations-education-gap-in-canada-assessing-progress-and-estimating-the-economic-benefits-an-update-2023-01/) [Measuring the Appropriate Outcomes for Better Decision-Making: A Framework to Guide the Analysis of Health Policy Matthew Calver March 2016 | Report 2016-03 | 132 pages](https://csls.ca/research/measuring-the-appropriate-outcomes-for-better-decision-making-a-framework-to-guide-the-analysis-of-health-policy-2016-03/) [Living Standards Domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing Andrew Sharpe, Christopher Ross November 2011 | Report 2011-17 | 124 pages](https://csls.ca/research/living-standards-domain-of-the-canadian-index-of-wellbeing-2011-17/) [A Survey of Indicators of Economic and Social Well-being Andrew Sharpe July 1999 | Report 1999-cprn | 72 pages](https://csls.ca/research/a-survey-of-indicators-of-economic-and-social-well-being/) [Human Well-being and Economic Well-being: What Values Are Implicit in Current Indices? 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Determining the Happiness of Canadians Andrew Sharpe, Ali Ghanghro, Erik Johnson, Anam Kidwai November 2010 | Report 2010-09 | 134 pages](https://csls.ca/research/does-money-matter-determining-the-happiness-of-canadians/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn This study provides internationally comparable estimates of the United Nations’ Human Development Index (HDI) for Canadian provinces and territories over the 2000-2023 period. The HDI is a composite index composed of three dimensions (life expectancy, education and income) measured by four indicators (life expectancy at birth, average years of education, expected years of schooling and gross national income per capita). We first replicate the estimates for Canada from the most recent Human Development Report (HDR, which includes data up to 2023 and was released in May 2025) using Statistics Canada data. We then apply the same methodology to generate estimates for the provinces and territories, and finally, make these estimates internationally comparable by scaling them to Canada’s in the most recent HDR. This methodology allows Canada’s provinces and territories to be ranked in the HDR international tables for the overall HDI as well as its components. We find that the highest HDI score in 2023 belongs to Ontario, followed closely by Quebec and Alberta, which would rank 15 th , 16th and 17th internationally, while the lowest-ranking region of Nunavut, would place 75 th . Overall, our findings highlight substantial regional variation in human development across Canada, which are concealed by the national HDI, as well as a gradual decline in Canada’s relative HDI ranking from 1 st in 1990s to 16th in 2023. Cette étude présente des estimations comparables à l’échelle internationale de l’Indice de développement humain (IDH) des Nations Unies pour les provinces et territoires canadiens au cours de la période 2000-2023. L’IDH est un indice composite formé de trois dimensions (espérance de vie, éducation et revenu) mesurées par quatre indicateurs (espérance de vie à la naissance, nombre moyen d’années de scolarité, nombre attendu d’années de scolarité et revenu national brut par habitant). Nous reproduisons d’abord les estimations pour le Canada tirées du plus récent Rapport sur le développement humain (qui inclut des données jusqu’en 2023 et a été publié en mai 2025) à l’aide de données de Statistique Canada. Nous appliquons ensuite la même méthodologie pour produire des estimations pour les provinces et territoires, puis nous les rendons comparables à l’échelle internationale en les calibrant sur celles du Canada dans le rapport le plus récent. Cette méthodologie permet de classer les provinces et territoires canadiens dans les tableaux internationaux du rapport, tant pour l’IDH global que pour ses composantes. Nous constatons que l’Ontario affiche le score d’IDH le plus élevé en 2023, suivi de près par le Québec et l’Alberta, qui se classeraient respectivement 15e, 16e et 17e à l’échelle internationale, tandis que la région la moins bien classée, le Nunavut, se situerait au 75e rang. Dans l’ensemble, nos résultats font ressortir d’importantes variations régionales du développement humain au Canada, masquées par l’IDH national, ainsi qu’un déclin progressif du classement relatif du Canada, passant du 1er rang dans les années 1990 au 16e rang en 2023. [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2025-03-1.pdf)