The director of Eurovision says the door is open for Canada to join the song contest – National
The director of the Eurovision Song Contest says the door is open for Canada to join the popular music show, but has yet to receive an official request after the federal government said last year it would “look into participating.”
Martin Green told the BBC on Wednesday that “nothing comes off my desk” from Canada but admitted that we are “an open place” for new participants outside of Europe.
“Our doors have been open for 70 years, and we will welcome anyone in those doors who wants to share the values of this great event and stand on our stage with friends,” he said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has been seeking closer ties with Europe as he seeks to break away from the United States, and the mention of Eurovision in last year’s federal budget suggested that relationship could go beyond trade and security to culture.
A line in the budget section of the CBC says the government is “working with CBC/Radio-Canada to explore participation in Eurovision.”
“We know Mark Carney wants to embrace Europe,” Green said.
Carney suggested Canada’s participation in Eurovision would be good for the country and Europe.
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“We want Canadian culture around the world,” he said shortly after the budget was presented in November. “The best culture in the world, the best music in the world. I think Europe deserves to see it too.”
The 70-year-old song contest is an annual source of massive worldwide viewership that has been dubbed Europe’s version of the Super Bowl, with hundreds of millions of viewers tuning in each year.
Canadian talent has been featured in the past, including a young Celine Dion, whose singing on behalf of the song submitted by Switzerland won the competition in 1988.
However, Canada is not a full member of the European Broadcasting Union, the public media confederation that runs the show, so it cannot participate in the competition itself.
Canada, through the CBC, is only an associate member of the EBU, but could join if formally invited. Other non-European countries have done so, including Australia, Cyprus and Israel.
Leon Mar, CBC/Radio-Canada’s senior director of public affairs, told the public broadcaster on Wednesday that he has been in contact with the EBU and will attend this year’s competition, which concludes Saturday in Vienna.
“I can confirm that we have three staff members attending the ESC as observers and that we are talking to the EBU about how we can collaborate closely and exchange more content, namely through the Eurovision News Exchange and the Euroradio Music Exchange,” he said.
Global News asked Mar to comment further on CBC’s involvement.
Joining Eurovision was previously considered by CBC/Radio-Canada in the past but was decided to be too expensive.
The tournament is facing turmoil this year because former winner Israel took part in Israel, as five countries Spain, Ireland, Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland boycotted because of the actions of the Israeli army in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
However, Israel advanced to the finals this week along with nine other countries.
—With files from Global Sean Previl
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
