Half-joking comments about Canada joining the bloc have become common as Ottawa adapts to its fraying relationship with the United States.
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot has floated the idea that Canada could one day join the European Union, using the transatlantic ally as a striking example of the bloc’s global appeal.
Speaking at the Europe 2026 conference in Berlin alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, Barrot argued that the EU is increasingly attracting partners far beyond its borders as geopolitical tensions soar.
Barrot’s Canada remark was not presented as a concrete policy proposal, but rather as part of a broader argument that the EU is emerging as a “third superpower” capable of balancing the rivalry between the United States and China.
It is a fact that they “could” join. There is nothing in the treaties excluding them if all member states really support that. That doesn’t mean Canada should do that. A stronger aliance bereeen EU and Canada with deeper economic cooperation would likeky be the better option.
Joining EU would be fairly simple way to achieve deeper economic cooperation and stronger alliance. Joining EU really hard to reverse (look at UK) so it guarantees long and stable relationship that businesses like.
What are the downsides?