The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday that Canada would be competing in the 71st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, taking place in Bulgaria in May 2027.
The EBU, which organizes the contest, welcomed the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a full member last week, paving the way for Canada to participate in the competition. The Eurovision Song Contest is an international musical tournament taking place annually in which participating countries submit an original song. Performers of the song traditionally convene for a marathon-length broadcast in May where they perform in order, allowing viewers and national panels of professional juries to vote for their favorites.
To reach the Grand Final, countries must compete in two semi-final performances whose winners are also determined by a combination of a jury of professional musicians and public votes. The song with the most points wins.
Eurovision is considered the world’s largest live music event. Last year’s tournament featured 35 countries – including the three returning countries of Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova – and attracted over 130 million viewers around the world. Bulgaria won the contest for the first time with the song “Bangaranga” by performer Dara, granting Bulgaria hosting duties for 2027.
Canada is expected to become a full competitor, rather than sending in a novelty performance that does not compete, and reports indicate that it would be granted hosting duties should the country win.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome CBC/Radio-Canada to the Eurovision Song Contest family – a further sign that, while born in Europe, the Contest continues to welcome the world,” the director of Eurovision, Martin Green, said in a statement on Wednesday. “With CBC/Radio-Canada now able to participate in the Contest as a full EBU Member, we look forward to seeing Canada bring its own voice, creativity, and energy to the Eurovision Song Contest stage in Bulgaria in 2027.”
Carney, the left-wing prime minister, celebrated online by announcing on social media, “the Eurovision Song Contest just got a lot tougher.”
Carney also shared a video of comments to reporters in which he celebrated Canada’s music industry.
“We’re the third largest exporter of music in the world, Canada is , after the United States and UK,” he explained. “The world wants Canada, wants Canadian culture, and this is another way to just spread the message, spread the love and a little bit of unity.”.
While originating as an exclusively European competition, Eurovision has expanded dramatically since its early days in the 1960s. The 2026 edition of the contest included three Asian countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Israel – and one mostly Asian country, Georgia, as well as Australia, which was allowed to join the contest in 2015 in recognition of the large fanbase for the contest existing there and its cultural ties to the European continent.
Canada itself has a history with the contest without having officially participated. It boasts at least one native winner: the legendary singer Celine Dion, who competed and won for Switzerland in 1988 with the song “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.” Other Canadian singers who have competed at Eurovision include 2001 French representative Natasha St-Pier and 2023 French representative La Zarra.
Carney’s government initially opened the door to Canadian membership in November, when it proposed a legislative budget that included increasing the finances of the CBC and exploring the potential of becoming an EBU member. The CBC reported at the time that Carney was “personally involved” with the campaign to get Carney into Eurovision. Carney had long been rumored to be a fan of the contest, notably mentioning in a 2025 meeting with Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese that Australian competitor Go-Jo “was robbed” after the latter lost in the semi-finals that year.
In May of this year, in anticipation of the contest, Eurovision director Martin Green told reporters that he would welcome Canada to the event, but had no insider information on Ottawa’s bid to participate.
“I’ve heard these rumors too, nothing’s particularly come over my desk, but what I would say is we are an open place,” he stated. “For 70 years, our doors have been open and we would welcome anyone through those doors who share the values of this wonderful occasion and stand on that stage with friends.”
Canada is the first new country to join Eurovision since Australia. The year 2026 was a turbulent one for membership generally, however, as it saw the exit of five countries – Spain, Slovenia, Ireland, Iceland, and the Netherlands – in protest of the continued presence of Israel in the contest. Israel has won the competition four times and been participating since the 1970s, but radical leftist agitators have been increasingly loud in demanding Israel’s expulsion from the contest since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacres in Israel and the resulting Gaza war. Using the example of Russia, which was expelled from the contest in 2021 after invading fellow competitor Ukraine, anti-Israel activists, including the governments of the departing contestants, demanded expelling Israel, omitting that Israel’s military operations in Gaza were a response to an invasion, unlike Russia’s actions against Ukraine. The EBU has repeatedly rejected this logic, however, allowing Israel to compete without interruption. Israel came in second place in both the 2025 and 2026 contests.
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