Canada to ​join Eurovision song contest from 2027

Canada will ​join the Eurovision song contest in 2027, becoming the first new ⁠participant since Australia in 2015, organisers have announced.Participation is not limited to countries in geographic Europe and instead is open to all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which Canada joined last week. Australia is an associate member.The EBU and the Canadian public broadcaster CBC announced on Wednesday that Canada would send an act to the 2027 contest, to be held in Bulgaria in May. The announcement was made on Canada Day, a national holiday.The CBC president, Marie-Philippe Bouchard, said participation “will allow Canadian talent to be showcased on one of the most storied music stages in the world”.The CBC said it would announce details of how Canada’s entry would be selected later this year. Some Eurovision countries choose their competitors through televised national selections. In other countries, competitors are picked by the national broadcaster.Eurovision’s director, Martin Green, said Canada’s accession was “a further sign that, while born in Europe, the contest continues to welcome the world”.Canadians have entered Eurovision before under different flags, most famously Céline Dion, who won the 1988 contest competing for Switzerland.Céline performing for Switzerland at Eurovision in 1988. Photograph: Pat Maxwell/RexThe 70th Eurovision contest, held in May, featured 35 countries and was won by the Bulgarian singer Dara, so next year’s competition will take place in her country.Eurovision has faced protests in recent years over the participation of Israel, a competitor since 1973. Five longtime participants – Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia – boycotted this year after organisers declined to exclude Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza and violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.The 2026 Eurovision final was watched by 130 million viewers around the world, organisers said, down from 160 million in 2025.Despite the blows to Eurovision’s finances and viewership from the boycott, the contest is set for expansion, with a spin-off Eurovision song contest Asia due to take place in Bangkok in November.