Canada is now eligible to enter the Eurovision Song Contest, after CBC/Radio-Canaca became a full member of the European Broadcasting Union on Thursday, the public broadcaster said. The membership is a requirement for any country to compete in the annual music competition, which draws tens of millions of viewers worldwide.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has been seeking closer political and economic ties with Europe since taking office last year, raised the idea of Canada joining the contest in his 2025 budget. His government said in November that it was working with the CBC to explore participation, and the budget included C$150 million (£80 million) in funding for the broadcaster.
Before Thursday, the CBC had been an associate member of the EBU, a status that did not grant eligibility to compete. “Canada’s voice in this community makes us stronger,” Noel Curran, the EBU’s director general, said in a statement.
Canada would not be the first non-European country to enter the competition. Israel and Australia are regular participants in the contest, which is open to any country whose national broadcaster holds EBU full membership. Morocco competed in 1980.
Canadians have previously participated in Eurovision — and won — while representing other nations. Canadian singer Céline Dion, from Quebec, won the 1988 contest competing for Switzerland. Natasha St-Pier, an Acadian from New Brunswick, represented France in 2001, and Montreal singer La Zarra represented France in 2023.