Canada Wants to Join Eurovision In Strategic Bid to Align More Closely With Europe

Photo Credit: Sebastiaan Stam

Canada’s government is working with its national broadcaster in a push to join the Eurovision Song Contest amid broader efforts to cozy up to Europe.

Canada’s federal budget, released earlier this month, included an interesting nugget amid an otherwise standard 500-page document: a mention that the government is working with Canada’s national broadcaster about joining Eurovision.

While it might seem like a long shot, there’s a reasonable precedent. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio Canada is an associate member of the European Broadcasting Union; Australia, another associate member, was invited to join the song contest by Eurovision’s governing board in 2015.

“I think it’s a platform for Canada to shine,” François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s finance minister, told Global News last week. “This is about protecting our identity—yes, we want to protect our sovereignty, but you also want to help people in the arts sector and in the film industry to make sure they can shine around the world. And we have a lot to offer as Canadians.”

The timing isn’t out of left field. Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump has taken aim at the country’s northern neighbor and slapped Canada with steep tariffs. The Canadian government has since been working to deepen its alliances with the UK and countries around Europe. Mark Carney, the country’s prime minister, visited France and the UK in March on his first trip overseas as prime minister. There, he seized the opportunity to declare Canada “the most European of the non-European countries.”

Sources told the CBC that Carney was personally involved in Canada’s push to join Eurovision. Carney spent years studying and living in the UK, most recently as the governor of the Bank of England.

“The Canadian conversation with CBC/Radio Canada is in its very early stages, and we look forward to continuing our discussions with them,” said Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, in a statement on Wednesday. “We’re always excited to know that broadcasters want to be part of the world’s largest live music show.”

Canada has reportedly considered seeking participation in the song contest before, but in 2022, the CBC said it had “ruled out” the idea, determining it would be “prohibitively expensive.”

Despite the fact that Canada has not participated before, many Canadian artists have been featured on Eurovision—most famously, Celine Dion, who won the contest for Switzerland in 1988.

Link to the source article – https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2025/11/12/canada-wants-in-on-eurovision/