In its first response following the controversy surrounding the Canadian finance minister’s statement, the EBU officially confirms that preliminary talks are being held regarding Canada’s potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Things are heating up around Canada’s potential entry into the Eurovision Song Contest. following a curious line spotted in Canada’s newly released federal budget, which received enthusiastic approval from the country’s finance minister. Now, the speculation has reached the highest level of confirmation yet: the EBU has officially Confirms that talks are underway with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) regarding its participation in the competition.
In the statement released by the EBU regarding Canada’s potential debut at Eurovision, it stated:
“We’re always excited to know that broadcasters want to be part of the world’s largest live music show”.
Referring to the line in Canada’s federal budget for 2025, which mentioned they “working with CBC/Radio to explore participation in Eurovision”.
The statement further noted:
“the Canadian conversation with CBC is in its very early stages and we look forward to continuing our discussions with them”.
Thus confirming the statement made by Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne that his country has been invited to participate in the competition.
From the Canadian minister’s statement, it was unclear whether the request came from the European Broadcasting Union or from participating countries eager to see Canada alongside them. The new statement from the EBU essentially informs us that while the topic’s process is still in its beginning, it is serious, and the possibility of seeing another non-European country at Eurovision is increasing.
“Eurovision is a platform for Canada to shine”
The Canadian Finance Minister stated when asked about the line in the federal budget referring to Eurovision during an interview following the budget announcement that “Eurovision is a platform for Canada to shine”.
As of now, it is unclear whether Canada will participate in Eurovision 2026 or if discussions are regarding future years, but the intriguing line in the budget and the EBU’s confirmation signal that negotiations between CBC/Radio-Canada and the EBU are heating up, and may yield results sooner than expected. If this happens, the Eurovision competition will expand geographically and culturally even further, and who knows — perhaps the United States will be next?
“We have a lot to offer as Canadians”
François-Philippe Champagne, the Canadian finance and revenue minister, speaks about potential Canadian participation in #Eurovision.
He appears to be suggesting that the EBU or participating countries had “asked” Canada to participate… https://t.co/ffyWWajjDc pic.twitter.com/bdQZhh2wYu
— Matthew Joyce (@ItsMatthewJoyce) November 5, 2025
The Unrealized “Eurovision Canada”
In 2022, the European Broadcasting Union announced a planned competition called “Eurovision Canada”, envisioned as a local adaptation where each entry would represent one of Canada’s provinces or territories. At the time, it followed the short‑lived American Song Contest, which underperformed in ratings and interest.
Eurovision Canada was expected to launch in 2023, featuring artists from all 10 provinces and three territories — Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut. However, the project never came to fruition.
Eurovision 2026: The 70th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Austria, following the country’s third historic win with the song “Wasted Love” performed by JJ. This will be the third time the contest has been hosted in Austria, after 1967 and 2015.
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