Canada is welcome to join Eurovision, says song contest director

Canada is welcome to join Eurovision if it wishes, its director has said, months after the country revealed it wanted to “explore” joining the song contest in its federal budget.Eurovision director Martin Green told the BBC on Wednesday that Canada hadn’t yet applied, but would be welcome to.“We know that Mark Carney wants to sort of embrace Europe,” he said.“We will welcome anyone through those doors who wants to share the values of this wonderful occasion and stand on our stage with friends,” he added.As the name suggests, Eurovision is mainly a showcase for European talent but it is open to countries with broadcasting organisations that are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Canada’s national broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is not a full member, but is eligible as an “associate member”.The only associate member ever approved to join Eurovision is Australia, which was granted permission to enter in 2015 due to the contest being hugely popular there.The CBC has confirmed it has sent staff to this year’s contest as “observers”.Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, first raised the idea of Canada joining the song contest in November in his 2025 federal budget – yet another sign of his government’s strategic realignment away from the US and towards Europe.A single line tucked in the nearly 500-page document revealed the government was working with CBC to “explore participation in the Eurovision”.Two government sources told the CBC that Carney – who spent years studying and living in the UK, most recently as the governor of the England" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="2477" data-entity-type="organization">Bank of England – was personally involved in Canada’s push.“I think it’s a platform for Canada to shine,” the country’s finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne said in November. “This is about protecting our identity – yes, we want to protect our sovereignty, but you also want to help people in the arts sector and in the film industry to make sure they can shine around the world. And we have a lot to offer as Canadians.”Canada has mulled participating in the song contest before; in 2022, the CBC ruled out the idea after deciding it was “prohibitively expensive”.While Canada has never formally participated in Eurovision, the contest has hosted an array of Canadian artists. Most famously was Céline Dion, who won the contest for Switzerland in 1988 with the song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi. In 2001, Natasha St-Pier represented France, as did La Zarra in 2023.Contestants do not have to be citizens of the country they are representing, although some participating countries do mandate it.