Canada welcome to send performer to Eurovision song contest: director

The director of the Eurovision Song Contest, Martin Green, says the door is open for Canada to send an entrant to a future edition of the contest. Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ /AFP via Getty Images

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Canada is welcome to join in on a future Eurovision Song Contest but “nothing” about an entry has come across his desk, contest director Martin Green told the BBC this week.

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The CBC has said it is in talks with the European Broadcasting Union, the organization that owns and runs Eurovision, about potential entry and sent observers to this year’s contest. (The 2026 final is set for tomorrow in Vienna.)

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Participation in the annual singing contest has usually been reserved for broadcasters that are full members of the EBU. However, the CBC is only an associate member, so Canada is not automatically eligible to compete. Canada would need EBU-approved broadcaster eligibility and a formal invitation or get in on case-by-case approval from Eurovision’s governing body.

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Australia was granted permission to participate even though its national broadcaster was only an associate member. In its reasoning the EBU expressed gratitude that Australia had broadcast the contest for many years, resulting in it being hugely popular in that country, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

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Meanwhile, Eurovision took note that the federal government indicated in the November 2025 budget that it is working with the public broadcaster to explore Canadian participation. The same month Green confirmed in EuroVisionWorld that the EBU was in early talks with the CBC.

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Canada would need to accept the contest’s participation obligations and pay its fees.

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As previously reported by National Post, one of the highlights of the most recent federal budget suggested Ottawa would provide $150 million to back a future Canadian Eurovision entry. Though it might not cost that much. One estimate cited for Ireland’s 2025 participation was about $575,000, according to the Irish Independent. Aside from the participation fees, the overall price tag would involve the cost of putting an act together, eventual staging and sending a Canadian delegation.

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Canada would not need to host a contest to pick an entry act. Eurovision rules allow participating countries to simply choose their own method of selecting an entry. A Canadian act could be picked internally instead of running a televised national final. Belgium and The Netherlands designate industry experts to pick their entries, away from the public eye, reports Radio Times.

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For the 70th Eurovision Song Contest this year in Vienna this month, ten countries relied on internal selection, where their national broadcasters appointed an artist, rather than holding a public competition. That included Australia, France, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

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Finally, even though, Canada has not been a formal participant in the contest, Canadians have competed in the past and won. The most notable was Céline Dion, who competed for Switzerland in 1988 and won. Her win was credited with launching her long career, reported IN Magazine.

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Since then other Canadians have competed, including Natasha St-Pier, an Acadian New Brunswicker. She represented France in 2001. La Zarra, a Montreal singer represented France in 2023. Under the contest rules, entrants do not have to be citizens of the country they are representing.

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