Date: September 10, 2026
Reporter: Emilly Jordan
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada is preparing to deepen its economic, political and security relationship with the European Union as Ottawa looks for ways to reduce its dependence on the United States amid an increasingly difficult trade relationship with Washington.
Carney was asked Thursday whether Canada could eventually seek membership in the European Union. While he did not directly rule on the possibility, he emphasized that his government is focused on building a substantially closer partnership with Europe rather than pursuing formal EU membership. He said Canada would use the coming months to explore deeper cooperation across a broad range of areas and promised to provide more details during his upcoming address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The prime minister's comments come at a time when relations between Canada and the United States have deteriorated significantly under President Donald Trump's administration. Washington has imposed sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods, while Ottawa has responded with counter-tariffs and begun looking more aggressively for new international markets and investment partners.
The growing tension with Washington has given Canada's relationship with Europe greater strategic importance. Canada and the EU have already spent more than a year discussing ways to expand cooperation, with both sides identifying trade, economic security, supply chains, defence, digital technology, education and climate policy as areas where closer collaboration could be developed.
The two sides established a framework for greater cooperation in June 2025. That framework called for stronger economic and trade ties, improved supply-chain cooperation and greater regulatory alignment. It also included plans for closer defence cooperation, collaboration on digital transformation and educational exchanges, as well as coordinated responses to climate change and other international challenges.
Carney has increasingly presented Europe as a central part of Canada's strategy to diversify its international relationships. His government has argued that Canada cannot remain excessively dependent on a single market, particularly when that market is now using tariffs and other trade restrictions to pressure Canadian industries.
The European Union represents a major potential alternative, although experts caution that replacing the United States as Canada's dominant trading partner would be extremely difficult. Geography remains a major factor, with the United States sharing Canada's longest international border and remaining deeply integrated into Canadian manufacturing, energy, agriculture and supply chains.
Christian Leuprecht, a professor at the Royal Military College in Montreal, described the EU as the most obvious partner if Canada wants to diversify its trading relationships. He suggested that one of the biggest opportunities could involve Canada purchasing more military equipment from European manufacturers while European countries increase investment in Canadian projects.
Such a partnership could benefit both sides. Canada has significant supplies of energy and critical minerals that European countries are increasingly interested in securing, while European governments and companies possess capital, technology and defence capabilities that could support Canada's effort to strengthen its domestic industrial base.
Leuprecht argued that Canada could effectively pursue a broader strategic arrangement in which it strengthens defence and security cooperation with Europe while encouraging European investment in major Canadian infrastructure and industrial projects.
The defence relationship has already moved beyond discussion. Canada secured participation in the European Union's Security Action for Europe, or SAFE, initiative, a €150-billion European defence financing program designed to accelerate military procurement and strengthen the continent's defence capabilities. Canadian participation gives Canadian defence companies greater access to European procurement opportunities while potentially attracting European defence investment into Canada.
Canada and European countries have also been expanding bilateral defence and intelligence cooperation. In June, Carney announced a new security-of-information agreement with France designed to allow greater exchange of classified information between Canadian and French defence, space, artificial intelligence and aerospace sectors. The agreement is also intended to improve access for Canadian companies to French defence procurement opportunities.
The changing relationship is not limited to defence. Canada is also looking toward Europe for greater cooperation in energy, critical minerals and emerging technologies. These sectors are becoming increasingly important as governments around the world seek more secure supply chains and attempt to reduce strategic dependence on China and, in Canada's case, excessive dependence on the United States.
The European Union's ambassador to Canada, Geneviève Tuts, has described the emerging relationship as something potentially different from the EU's existing arrangements with countries such as Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. She said the goal was to move beyond simply filling gaps and toward deeper integration in selected areas.
Carney is scheduled to address the European Parliament next week, giving him an important platform to outline what Canada wants from its evolving relationship with Europe. His speech is expected to receive considerable attention because it comes as Ottawa attempts to navigate the consequences of the worsening trade relationship with Washington.
The possibility of Canada joining the European Union has also attracted attention in recent months. France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, publicly suggested in March that Canada could potentially seek EU membership at some point. Carney, however, has previously rejected the idea of Canada becoming an EU member, saying he favours clearer and broader ties with Europe instead.
Experts remain divided over how transformative the Canada-EU relationship can ultimately become. Aurel Braun, a professor of international relations at the University of Toronto, said closer cooperation could produce some additional trade opportunities but argued that it was unlikely to fundamentally change Canada's economic relationship with the United States.
Braun pointed to geography and history as enduring factors. Even if Canada dramatically expands its trade with Europe, the United States is likely to remain a critical economic and political partner because of the enormous volume of cross-border commerce and the integration of Canadian and American industries.
That reality presents a major challenge for Carney's diversification strategy. Canada can seek new markets, strengthen European partnerships and develop domestic industries, but moving substantial amounts of trade away from the United States will require years of investment and the development of new transportation networks, supply chains and commercial relationships.
Still, the current trade conflict has accelerated a strategic shift that might otherwise have taken much longer. The Trump administration's use of tariffs has encouraged Canada to reconsider the assumption that its relationship with the United States will always provide a stable foundation for economic growth.
Carney's government has therefore increasingly emphasized resilience, economic sovereignty and diversification. The strategy includes strengthening domestic manufacturing, increasing defence production, expanding infrastructure and finding new markets for Canadian energy, minerals and other exports.
The relationship with Europe could become one of the most important elements of that strategy. Canada already shares political and security interests with many European countries, is a member of NATO and has longstanding cultural and diplomatic connections across the continent.
The immediate challenge will be converting political statements into concrete agreements, investment and increased trade. While Canada and the EU have established several frameworks and partnerships, the economic scale of the United States relationship means Europe would have to become significantly more important to Canada's economy before it could meaningfully reduce American dominance.
For Carney, however, the objective may not be to replace the United States altogether. Instead, the strategy appears to be creating enough alternative markets, investment sources and strategic partnerships that Canada is less vulnerable when relations with Washington deteriorate.
As the prime minister prepares to address European lawmakers, the message from Ottawa is becoming increasingly clear: Canada wants Europe to play a much larger role in its economic and strategic future. Whether that ambition can produce a fundamental change in Canada's trade structure remains uncertain, but the worsening relationship with the United States has given the push for closer European ties a new sense of urgency.