The American president has invited Canada to become his country’s “51st state,” an idea that has infuriated most of Canada’s 40 million citizens.
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Hence this suggestion: Why not expand the EU to include Canada? Is that so far-fetched an idea? In any case, Canadians have actually considered the question themselves. In February 2025, a survey conducted by Abacus Data on a sample of 1,500 people found that 44% of those polled supported the idea, compared to 34% who opposed it. Better the 28th EU country than the 51st US state!
One might object: Canada is not European, as required for EU membership by Article 49 of the EU Treaty. But what does “European” actually mean? The word cannot be understood in a strictly geographic sense, or Cyprus, closer to Asia, would not be part of the EU. So the term must be understood in a cultural sense.
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As [Canadian Prime Minister Mark] Carney said in Paris, in March: Thanks to its French and British roots, Canada is “the most European of non-European countries.” He speaks from experience, having served as governor of the Bank of England (a post that is assigned based on merit, not nationality). Culturally and ideologically, Canada is close to European democracies: It shares the same belief in the welfare state, the same commitment to multilateralism and the same rejection of the death penalty or uncontrolled firearms.
Moreover, Canada is a Commonwealth monarchy that shares a king with the United Kingdom.
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Even short of a formal application, it would be wiser for Ottawa to strengthen its ties with European democracies rather than with the Chinese regime. The temptation is there: Just before heading to Davos, Carney signed an agreement with Beijing to lower tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China.
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Companies have been outsourcing their product manufacturing and many services to different continents, very often to countries much farther away than Canada is from Europe. So that’s apparently not a barrier.
A common currency would decisively deepen the economic ties as trade and investment would be less risky and easier.
Theyve been outsourcing it to continents that does things so cheaply, either due to poverty or currency manipulation, that it makes up for the costs of shipping.
Increasing trade is convicing both blocs that its easier to buy and work with companies that are, for parts, so far away that the work day doesnt even overlap. Sure a common currency makes business dealings easier, but again, theres a reason we do ~75% of our trade with our neighbor. Also on that continent people outsource to the work day is a lot longer than 8 hours. I can message a manufacturer in China any time of my day and they will respond.
Common currency would lead to more investment, from EU countrie, but i dont see that coming close to making up for the losses from increased trade barriers for all our other trading partners