Head of EU invites Canada to become ‘associate member’

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrive for a speech during European Commission President's annual State of the Union address at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France on September 16, 2026. Photo by JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN /AFP via Getty Images

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STRASBOURG — European Union President Ursula von der Leyen extended an invitation to Canada on Wednesday to become the European Union’s first ever “associate member.”

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Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was seated just a few feet to her left, was beaming while European Parliamentarians erupted in applause.

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The rest of von der Leyen’s speech in the EU Parliament on Wednesday would ring strangely familiar in Canadians’ ears.

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As global crises abound, the European Union must cut down on red tape and “massively accelerate” project permitting, she said. Europe must double its energy production by 2040. It must boost its defence investments and production and learn to better harness artificial intelligence while managing its inevitable human and social impacts, she argued.

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The words she used could have been ripped straight from any number of Carney’s speeches about Canada in the past year.

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“We see the world with the same eyes, from AI to climate change, from the Arctic to geopolitics, and we have stood together on Ukraine, on defence, on raw materials and supply chains,” von der Leyen said to Carney.

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“But above all, dear Mark, Europe and Canada believe in democracy.”

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On Sunday, Carney firmly denied that Canada was seeking EU membership, instead referring to a new “unique alliance” with the block of 27 countries.

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Asked about the new status proposed by the EU head, PMO spokesperson Audrey Champoux said the government welcomed van der Leyen’s invitation to build a deeper alliance in a statement that did not mention associate membership.

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van der Leyen’s announcement comes as Carney doubles down on efforts to pivot the Canadian economy away from its dependence on the United States amid an escalating trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump.

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The EU head’s speech did not detail what that would entail, but she argued Canada and the EU needed to bring their relationship “to the highest level possible”.

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She said that meant going well above and beyond the decade-old Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) deal between Canada and the European Union, which 10 European countries have not yet ratified.

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“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defence industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project. We will work on energy critical minerals and batteries on AI, quantum, cyber, and economic security,” she said.

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The announcement was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the hundreds of members of European Parliament attending her speech.

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But notably absent from her announcement was talk of boosting mobility between both countries, something Carney alluded to repeatedly in the days leading up to his trip to France.