Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that Canada plans to begin discussions on a “unique alliance” with the European Union.
Carney was responding to a Wall Street Journal article that said Canada was seeking to become an “associate member” of the 27-nation bloc.
That report included this quote from Finnish President Alexander Stubb: “Wouldn’t it be lovely if Canada was the 28th state of the European Union rather than the 51st state of the United States?”
In response to the article, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and other MPs in his party said on X on Sunday that Canadians should be concerned about becoming the “28th EU state.”
Here is what we know about the Canada-EU partnership as Carney prepares to deliver a speech to the European Parliament on Thursday morning.
Is Canada planning to join the EU?
No, Carney says. The prime minister reiterated at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday that that is not the plan.
“We’re not looking to become a member of the European Union,” Carney said, adding that officials are instead looking to begin discussions on a “unique alliance.”
“We share the same values, we have the same priorities, and we have very complementary strengths,” he said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked on the red carpet of the Toronto International Film Festival about a Wall Street Journal report that suggested he was exploring whether Canada could become an ‘associate member’ of the European Union. He said Canada plans to begin discussions for a ‘unique alliance’ with the bloc, but will not seek membership.
Has the idea of full EU membership been floated?
Not officially, but the idea has made the rounds among media and some people in power as Canada seeks to become less dependent on its relationship with the U.S.
One public instance was a comment by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who said in March that “maybe Canada at some point” could sign up for the political and economic union.
Barrot’s comments at a European conference in Berlin generated laughs and applause at the time, though Carney has consistently said, as early as June 2025, that membership is not on the table.
He said then that he wants to “co-operate much more clearly and broadly to our mutual benefit.”
“Not as a member, but along that continuum.”
What is an ‘associate’ member?
Saturday’s Wall Street Journal article said Carney is pushing his team to take Ottawa’s relationship with the EU “to the next level” — including having Canada take on a new title: “Associate Member of the European Union.”
“Associate member” is not a legal designation.
A senior Canadian official, who offered information to CBC News on a not-for-attribution basis, said the “associate member” label is one of a few that have been considered and that Canada did not propose it.
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The official added that the government is still examining what the relationship could look like, and hopes to more clearly sketch it out at the EU-Canada summit at the end of October.
The official said they did a deep analysis of the EU’s relationships with non-members Norway, Switzerland, the U.K. and Georgia and said none of those would work because the Canadian government does not want to give up independence in return for access.
What do we know about deepening ties between the EU and Canada?
Carney and the EU’s ambassador to Canada, Geneviève Tuts, have both used the same word: “unique.”
But there have been few on-the-record details beyond a willingness on both sides to work something out.
Carney said on Aug. 22 that the two sides would talk this fall about building a “much stronger and deeper” security and economic partnership. This is on top of their only partially applied free-trade deal (CETA) and the non-trade Strategic Partnership Agreement, as well as the Security and Defence Partnership they signed in June 2025.
Tuts said what that looks like is still being worked out.
Former Liberal leader and Special Envoy to the European Union Stéphane Dion says the idea of Canada joining the EU ‘will never happen,’ but Canada must look to increase trade with the EU above eight per cent. Conservatives and Liberals ‘should all agree it’s the thing we need to do,’ he added.
The Wall Street Journal report says Canada and the EU are “eyeing ways” for Canada to move closer on energy, AI, critical minerals and defence.
The Canadian official said they’re aiming for more options on where Canadians study, travel, do business and retire.
What are the possibilities?
Tuts said she expects only discussions about any new partnership at this point, possibly with more detail from speeches by Carney on Thursday and by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday.
Achim Hurrelmann, co-director of the Centre for European Studies at Carleton University, says it seems the new agreement is being put together in a hurry.
He said the plan might include things like collaboration on a European stockpile of critical minerals, university student exchanges through the Erasmus program and a digital trade agreement.
Hurrelmann said this all might amount to a series of agreements instead of a major pact, or a grab bag of ideas assembled under the label of “co-operating on strategic capabilities.”
“There are lots of initiatives, but they don’t at this point really amount, from what I can see, to this systematically new step in the relationship,” he said. “I’m not really sure if the substance will actually justify the new label.”
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