Evan Bray: What would 'associate' EU membership mean for Canada?
There's been a lot of talk about Canada possibly becoming an "associate member" of the European Union. Evan Br...
STRASBOURG — An enhanced partnership with the European Union will be debated and voted on in Canada’s Parliament, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday following his address to the EU in France.
Carney’s speech came one day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her state of the union address to the European Parliament to open the door to Canada becoming what she called the first “associate member” of the EU.
Carney said he welcomed the move, but during a news conference in Strasbourg, France, following the speech, he also said Canadian members of Parliament will be given the chance to debate and vote on whatever alliance is ultimately proposed.
“Yes, we will have a series of debates, I’m sure, in Parliament, relevant committees, and ultimately there will be a vote in the Canadian Parliament for the final structure of the alliance that we’re working on,” Carney said, while standing alongside Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament.
“The next important point is the summit, European-Canada summit in Montreal at the 29th and 30th of October, but it will all roll out transparently. It’s an exciting time because this is an opportunity to speak for Canada. Make Canada stronger, more sovereign, more independent, more prosperous, more sustainable.”
A similar debate will happen in the European Parliament.
“We look forward and positively at new opportunities with allies such as Canada, with whom we have had partnerships and alliances, call them what you will, for hundreds of years,” Metsola said.
“The overwhelmingly positive reaction of members in plenary just a few moments ago will be reflected in a similar reaction in the committees. Of that, I have no doubt.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reacted to Carney’s speech by sharing a picture on social media of the EU flag with a red maple leaf just off to the left of the circle of 12 yellow stars. The circle is meant to represent unity and harmony among Europe’s people.
Carney said Canadians embrace the idea of a stronger relationship with the EU.
“Polling shows an overwhelming majority of Canadians support much closer ties,” he said in his address Thursday.
In her speech on Wednesday, von der Leyen was the first to use the specific term “associate member”, which is not something that currently exists within the EU, and Canadian officials quickly downplayed the “associate member” label.
Carney said Thursday the “nomenclature” of a new partnership would be determined by the EU but the substance of the arrangement is more important than its name.
That substance is still being developed, but Carney said Canada and Europe should forge deeper ties on critical minerals, defence, artificial intelligence and energy security.
He said the two partners should look at allowing young people to live, work and study on either side of the Atlantic, and creating an integrated market for financial services.
Metsola said this could include Canada joining Erasmus+, a program that facilities student exchanges between member countries.
“If you ask our young people what they associate the European Union with, I would tell you Erasmus is the first thing they mentioned. Horizon is the second thing they mention in terms of opportunities that with Canada could only get bigger,” she said.
Horizon Europe is an EU program that funds various research and innovation projects. The program’s budget for 2021-2027 is about $150 billion.
Carney did not mention U.S. President Donald Trump by name in his speech, though he alluded to strained relations between both Canada and Europe and the American administration.
“We are not fair-weather allies. We do not pursue zero-sum deals. Our commitment to the rule of law, and our unyielding defence of human dignity, individual freedom and democracy, share the same deep roots, the same unwavering dedication,” Carney said.
“We hold common values, for which we have always fought, and in whose defence we must always remain vigilant.”
Trump said Wednesday he views the prospect of Canada becoming an associate member of the EU as a possible “hostile act” and threatened to impose more tariffs on Europe.
Carney said a deeper alliance will make Canada a “better partner with the United States.”
“Canadians are united that nobody is going to tell us what language we speak, no one going to dictate our culture or with whom we can strike agreements internationally,” Carney said.
That was a nod to the recent breakdown in trade talks between Canada and the United States. Carney suspended negotiations just before a U.S.-set tariff deadline in August, and he said the U.S. had made demands Canada refused, including restrictions on Canada’s protections for French, and on its ability to make trade deals with other countries.
In his address, Carney also sketched out the limits of the proposed arrangement with the EU.
“I am not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great-power rival — only with better manners,” he said.
“We do not seek power to dominate others. On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so that no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.”
After Carney’s speech, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre shared a video on social media of his Wednesday caucus address from Penticton, B.C. In it, he said Canadians should decide the future direction of the country.
“We will continue to support co-operation with our European allies, of course, that is the Conservative tradition … The prime minister, however, needs to get his story straight. He says he wants a possible associate membership or a unique alliance or whatever else he is secretly negotiating with the EU,” Poilievre said in his speech.
“But Conservatives are clear. While we support free trade and continued NATO co-operation with our European allies, Conservatives say no EU taxes, no EU laws, and no EU open border policies on immigration in Canada.”
Ten of 27 EU countries still haven’t ratified a trade deal with Canada that has been in place provisionally for nine years. Canadian businesses have not taken up market access provided to them in Europe to the same extent that European industries have in Canada.
Carney received standing ovations at the beginning and end of his speech from about two-thirds of the European parliamentarians.
Terry Reintke, co-leader of the Greens in the European Parliament said the day before Carney’s speech that she hoped to see him more often in the Parliament. She wore a Sidney Crosby Team Canada jersey as she sat in the front row for Carney’s speech.
The Greens hold seven per cent of the seats in the EU Parliament.
Not all parliamentarians were as receptive. As Carney approached the podium to begin his speech, one of the European parliamentarians welcomed him with a chant of “USA, USA.”
The prime minister chuckled in response.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2026.
— With files from David Baxter in Ottawa
Nick Murray, The Canadian Press
