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The challenge with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s suggestion that Canada could become a European Union “associate member” is that nobody seems precisely sure what that means.
That confusion is already creating fertile ground for critics of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push to diversify Canada’s trade and political partnerships away from the U.S. under President Donald Trump.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has already asserted — without evidence, since there’s no clear information from Carney or von der Leyen so far about the proposal — that such a partnership could include Canadians contributing tax dollars to the EU budget, accepting regulations drafted by bureaucrats in Brussels, or ceding control over immigration levels.
Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s ambassador to the EU and a former cabinet minister, did not appear fully comfortable with the term “associate member” Wednesday — telling reporters the important thing isn’t the name for the relationship, but the results deeper cooperation could bring.
“We are not looking to be a member of the European Union, because that is a sovereignty issue and people give up certain portions of their sovereignty (to be part of the bloc),” Wilkinson told reporters.
“At the end of the day, what we are looking to do is get as close as we possibly can in a manner that’s going to actually strengthen all of our respective countries without giving up significant chunks of sovereignty.”
In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Wednesday, von der Leyen told Carney that she wants to work with him to “open the door” to Canada being the political and trading bloc’s first “associate member.”
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More concretely, von der Leyen said she wants to move from the Canada-European Trade Agreement (CETA) to what she calls an “Alliance for the Future to create a common prosperity and economic security space.”
“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 (computing), cyber and economic security,” von der Leyen’s prepared remarks read.
“In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.”
Those are all things Canada and Europe have been working on since at least June 2025, when Carney and von der Leyen began a process to “deepen ties.” They will all likely factor in to Carney’s address to European leaders on Thursday, and be topics for discussion when Canada-EU talks continue in Montreal next month.
There is currently no legal meaning for “associate membership” in the European Union, although the designation has been floated in the past — most recently, for Ukraine, which has for years been working toward full EU membership before Russia’s invasion.
In Ukraine’s case, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested the country be granted temporary associate status as it worked toward full ascension into the bloc. It would’ve given Ukraine a presence at EU summits and meetings, but no voting rights.
It would not have given the country access to the $27 trillion European Single Market, or to EU funds. Merz’s idea would grant Ukraine a measure of security guarantees that Canada already enjoys through membership in the North American Treaty Organization (NATO).
Officials with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) told reporters traveling with Carney that Canada was not seeking formal membership of any kind with the EU.
“We welcome President von der Leyen’s proposal that Canada and the European Union move beyond the CETA to an Alliance for the Future,” PMO said in a statement.
“This is a unique, positive approach that we will define together, building on our common strengths and based on our shared values.”
Polling released by Abacus Data this week suggested an overwhelming majority — 80 per cent — of Canadians support stronger economic, defence and political ties between Ottawa and Europe.
That support cuts across Canada’s regions and partisan differences. Opposition was strongest among Conservative voters, but 69 per cent of that cohort still backed deepening ties with Europe.
Of course, that support could change if Canada were asked to pay into Europe’s collective budget, or change domestic policies around issues like immigration to more closely align with the continent.
In a press conference Tuesday, Poilievre raised similar questions.
“What more is Mr. Carney proposing? Because what Conservatives do not support is forcing waitresses who are struggling to pay their rent or welders who are worried about losing their homes to pay higher taxes to a government in Europe, or to follow law made by European bureaucrats that don’t even know where the Lower Mainland of B.C. is,” Poilievre said.
“Or to have European immigration policies that will further overwhelm our housing, health care and job market. We want Canada to have free trade with Europe, cooperation with Europe, but we never surrender our independence and sovereignty over our laws, our tax money, and our immigration policies.”
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