Canada seeking ‘unique alliance’ with EU, not membership: Carney

After a Wall Street Journal exclusive created a small firestorm of controversy on Sunday when it revealed Mark Carney has reportedly been racing towards making Canada an “associate member” of the European Union, the prime minister poured cold water on the idea later that day.

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“Look, we’re not looking to become a member of the European Union,” he said on the red carpet of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Sunday night, per The Globe and Mail.

Rather, he said, Canada is starting talks with the EU about forming a “unique alliance.”

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“We share the same values, we have the same priorities and we have very complementary strengths,” he continued.

“We’re stronger together and this is at a time when the world’s more dangerous and divided and friends need to stick together at these times.”

The Journal article, citing unnamed officials on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, claimed Carney has been eyeing the EU and its “$21 trillion single market” since securing government in 2025.

The EU doesn’t technically have any “associate members,” but the concept reportedly being pitched, per the Journal, would allow Canada’s goods, services and workers in defence, energy, AI and critical minerals to move freely throughout the 27 EU states.

They’ve also reportedly had discussions about trans-Atlantic sub-sea communications and energy corridors, new satellite networks that don’t involve U.S. tech giants, and potentially shipping Canadian fertilizer through a ice-breaker-cleared Northwest Passage.

The Journal also reported that Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron have discussed the possibility of Canadians living and working in EU member nations without requiring a visa, and that Carney wants access to an EU study-abroad program.

Sources indicate the concept is still in its bureaucratic infancy, but Carney has been clear with his officials that the result “will be the reorienting of an economy and a society that for half a century has been dominated by the U.S.”

Leader Pierre Poilievre added his voice to the chorus of Conservative voices who decried Carney’s reported moves and said Canadians deserve to know if their government is actually pursuing “associate membership.”

“If so, will European border policies apply in Canada, further overwhelming our immigration system while our youth can’t find homes? Will Canadian waitresses struggling with rent have to pay tax dollars to the bloated EU bureaucracy? Will Canadian small businesses be buried under the red tape of Eurocrats that have never met a Canadian entrepreneur,” he asked, noting he would ask these questions were it not for a shuttered Parliament.

Mark Carney could not be more out of touch.

With Canadians missing meals and mortgage payments, and days before he addresses the European Parliament (instead of the Canadian Parliament) we learn in a foreign newspaper of secret talks to make Canada an "Associate Member" of the…

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) September 13, 2026

“And one more: who decides for Canada?”

Poilievre said the existing Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement already allows for free trade and more would happen were it not for the Liberals.

Like some of his MPs, Poilievre said just as Canada won’t acquiesce to U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to make it the 51st state, nor will it become the “28th EU state.”

“We are Canadians. This is our home, our freedom, our sovereignty, our people. Now and forever.”

Other Conservatives to object and share similar thoughts on X include Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman, Roman Baber, Shuv Majumdar, Andrew Lawton, Andrew Scheer, and Jamil Jivani, among others.

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