Canada's travel advisories now feature colour-coded maps. What you need to know

Canada has introduced a more intuitive way for travellers to understand safety risks abroad.

Global Affairs Canada’s Travel Advice and Advisories now include colour-coded, user-friendly maps covering more than 230 destinations.

The maps are designed to visually represent risk levels at both national and regional scales, allowing travellers to quickly grasp the security situation in a specific location without having to rely solely on text, the department says.

The Travel Advice and Advisories aim to provide destination-specific information for Canadians planning to travel or live abroad.

It’s meant to serve as a trusted source of guidance, helping individuals make informed travel decisions while prioritizing their safety.

Each advisory offers a comprehensive overview of conditions in a given destination, including security concerns, entry and exit requirements, recommended health precautions, local laws and customs, and potential environmental risks such as climate events or natural disasters.

Four risk levels

Central to the advisories is the concept of risk levels, which reflect the Government of Canada’s official assessment of safety and security conditions in a country or region.

These levels are categorized into four distinct tiers.

A green designation indicates that travellers should take normal security precautions, similar to those they would follow within Canada.

A yellow level signals the need for a heightened degree of caution due to evolving or uncertain conditions.

Orange advises against non-essential travel, suggesting that individuals carefully reconsider the necessity of their trip or continued stay.

Red, the highest level, warns against all travel, indicating that conditions pose serious risks to personal safety and that leaving the area may be the safest option if it can be done securely.

“Avoid non-essential travel" and "Avoid all travel" are official advisories issued by the Government of Canada when assessing that the security or health situation in a country or region poses a significant threat to the personal safety and security of Canadians travelling or living there.

This could be caused by the threat of terrorism, civil unrest, war, rebellion, a natural disaster, political instability or a health emergency.

“These factors directly influence the risk level assigned to each destination and might also affect your travel insurance coverage,” notes Global Affairs Canada.

In some cases, advisories break down risks within specific regions of a country, offering a more nuanced view than a single nationwide rating.

Text remains the official source

The maps are intended to complement – not replace – the written advisories, says Global Affairs Canada.

The text remains the official and most authoritative source of information, and in cases where discrepancies arise, it should always be considered the final reference.

Travellers should also be aware that while updates to maps and text are typically synchronized, minor delays may occasionally occur.

Additionally, the maps are designed solely to illustrate risk levels and are not meant to serve as precise geographical references.

For more details about Canada’s Travel Advice and Advisories and risk levels, see this FAQ here.  

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