Neil Malik
Should Canada join the European Union?
Should Canada join the European Union?
Photo: European Union, 2026
The Topline
- A majority of Canadians think Canada should explore joining the European Union
- Polling conducted by Spark Advocacy showed 25 per cent said it was a good idea, 57 per cent said it was exploring more, while 17 per cent said it was a bad idea
- France’s foreign minister last month openly floated the idea of Canada joining the EU
- Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he’s looking to deepen trade and security ties with the continent but not as a formal member of the bloc
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Switch sides,
back and forth
If values matter, look to Europe
If there was ever a time to consider EU membership, it’s now.
Canada’s vast natural resources and energy reserves perfectly complement Europe’s dense population and industrial needs.
Or, as The Economist wrote , “Europe needs space and resources, Canada needs people. Let’s deal.”
Even if we wait it out, there’s no guarantee that once President Trump leaves office, things will bounce back to the days of Obama. Trump’s successor could also come from MAGA roots.
Trump views Canada as something he can push around without consequence. An application to join the EU would show him that Canada has other options besides the U.S. for protecting our economy and sovereignty.
The biggest strain on Canada-U.S. relations is our lack of shared values. But the EU is a perfect match for Canada.
Augusto Lopez-Claros is the executive director of the Global Governance Forum. He writes , “Canada already behaves like a de facto member of the club in all but name.”
“In terms of low corruption, regulatory clarity, and overall investment climate, it already outperforms several long-standing EU members, including Italy and Greece,” he said.
Property rights, the rule of law, free trade and social security systems are all things important to Canada. Coincidentally, those are the same values core to EU membership.
More competition in areas such as banking, airlines and cellphones wouldn’t hurt either. The EU’s strict antitrust regulations mean Europeans get better pricing in those industries, especially.
Critics like to point out that Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union limits eligibility for EU membership to “any European state” that shares the same values, so this whole conversation should be a non-starter.
But the treaty isn’t written in stone. Article 48 allows the EU to amend that restriction with a unanimous vote. Not easy, but not impossible.
Global alliances were primarily built around geography. That’s how the EU started. But today, maps aren’t nearly as important. Technology can bring distant economies and societies closer together than ever before.
So if the treaty were amended and the geographic language removed, then Canada joining the EU becomes a no-brainer. We should at least explore it.
Better read the fine print
When Donald Trump started calling us the 51st state, Canadians put their elbows up.
With that in mind, those same Canadians who want to join the EU better be careful what they wish for. If Canada becomes the 28th EU member, we’d have far less sovereignty than we currently hold.
For instance, we’d have to follow a whole new set of laws. Frédéric Mérand, professor of political science at the Université de Montréal, explains that in some cases, decisions from the European Court of Justice would supersede those of the Supreme Court of Canada.
There’s a chance we’d have to replace the loonie with the euro and apply EU trade tariffs to the U.S. In effect, joining the EU would require a complete overhaul of our institutional, policy and regulatory landscape.
Meredith Lilly, professor at Carleton University and former trade adviser to Stephen Harper, goes into more detail. She explained to CBC’s The House that certain decisions now made in Ottawa would be made in Brussels. For example, the European Parliament would manage and decide Canada’s trade policy – not Canada.
Canada would be one of 28 voices in the European Parliament, while provinces would have no say. European subnational governments don’t get to vote in the EU, so neither would Alberta or Quebec.
We can’t pretend the magnet of the world’s largest economy isn’t right next door. Our trade relationship with the U.S. keeps millions of Canadians employed.
Former deputy prime minister John Manley told CBC’s The House: just like it would be very hard for the moon to decide that it was going to orbit Mars, it would be very hard for Canada to decide that the U.S. should be a smaller trading partner.
Besides, how much trade with the EU could we realistically gain? Canada enjoys 98 per cent duty-free trade with the EU through existing agreements . We’re already getting most of the economic benefits without the trade-offs of full membership.
Our existing free trade agreement with the EU took five years to negotiate and still isn’t fully ratified by all EU member countries.
At the same time, Canadians still can’t ship a bottle of wine from B.C. to Alberta.
If Canada can’t get its own house in order when it comes to interprovincial trade, is it really a good idea to introduce the complexity of an international union with 27 other members?
Just like Canada has “have” and “have-not” provinces, the EU is similar.
Because we’re a relatively strong economy, Canada would likely be a “net contributor,” meaning Canadian tax dollars would fund transfer payments to less wealthy European nations instead of being spent on domestic needs.
I can already see the steam coming from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s ears knowing that Alberta’s oil revenues were funding pension payments in Estonia.
Canada’s best bet is figuring out how to stay cozy with our closest neighbour and trading partner. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
