Prime Minister Mark Carney says any enhanced partnership between Canada and the European Union will ultimately be brought before Parliament for debate and a final vote, as Ottawa explores a much deeper relationship with the bloc.
Speaking to reporters in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday, Carney also made clear that Canada is not seeking full membership in the European Union. He said the eventual terminology used to describe the new relationship would be determined by the EU, while arguing that the substance of the partnership matters more than its formal name.
The comments followed Carney’s address to the European Parliament, where he welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal for Canada to become the EU’s first associate member.
Carney said the proposal reflected an ambition for much closer Canada-EU ties and cited polling that he said shows strong Canadian support for such a relationship. Von der Leyen first raised the associate-member concept during her State of the Union address on September 16. The status would be new and is not currently defined in the EU treaties.
Canadian officials had previously played down the use of the term “associate member,” emphasizing that the exact name and structure of any enhanced partnership had yet to be determined. Carney likewise stressed that the eventual framework matters more than its nomenclature.
The prime minister outlined a broad agenda for stronger cooperation between Canada and Europe. He said the two sides should deepen ties in critical minerals, defence, artificial intelligence and energy security, while also working toward greater opportunities for young people to live, work and study on either side of the Atlantic.
He also proposed moving toward a more integrated financial services market between Canada and the EU.
Carney did not name U.S. President Donald Trump during his European Parliament address, but he referred to the wider tensions affecting Canada, Europe and Washington.
He argued that Canada and Europe share commitments to the rule of law, human dignity, individual freedom and democracy, and said those common principles should underpin a closer relationship.
Trump has characterized the prospect of Canada becoming an EU associate member as a “hostile act” in the context of the ongoing trade dispute and has threatened additional tariffs against Europe. Carney, meanwhile, said stronger ties with the EU would ultimately make Canada a “better partner with the United States.”
Carney also sought to define what he does not envisage from a closer Canada-EU relationship. He said Canada is not seeking to create another geopolitical bloc or position itself as a rival to the major powers.
Instead, he described the goal as building greater resilience so that Canada and its partners can protect open markets, sovereignty, territorial integrity, democratic institutions and individual freedoms.
The proposal has also drawn criticism from Conservative MPs in Canada. They have argued that associate membership could raise concerns about Canadian sovereignty and warned about possible consequences involving open borders, tax revenues and employment. The precise terms of any future associate-member arrangement, however, have not yet been established, meaning it remains unclear whether those outcomes would result from such a partnership.
The existing Canada-EU trade framework also remains only provisionally implemented. CETA entered provisional force on September 21, 2017, and the European Commission says 17 of the EU’s 27 member states have completed their national ratification processes, while 10 still have to do so.
The Canadian government says CETA continues to provide preferential access for Canadian and European businesses while ratification remains incomplete. Its latest State of Trade data also shows that, in 2024, CETA was used for 59 per cent of the value of Canadian exports subject to tariffs, indicating that preferential access has not been fully utilized.
Against that backdrop, the proposed partnership would seek to move Canada-EU relations beyond the existing trade framework into a broader economic and strategic relationship covering investment, technology, defence, energy security, financial services and people-to-people ties. The details of that arrangement remain to be negotiated and would still require debate and a vote in Canada’s Parliament.
