Canada is heading to Eurovision. The country will make its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027, organizers announced, adding a North American entrant to a competition long associated with Europe.
How it happened
The European Broadcasting Union and Canada's public broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada, said Canada would compete at next year's contest after the broadcaster became a member of the union, which organizes Eurovision. The announcement, made around Canada Day, makes Canada the first new country to join the contest since Australia in 2015, Eurovision's organizers said.
Martin Green, the contest's director, said the union was "delighted to welcome CBC/Radio-Canada to the Eurovision Song Contest family." Marie-Philippe Bouchard, the president and chief executive of CBC/Radio-Canada, said the debut would let the broadcaster showcase Canadian talent on one of the world's best-known music stages.
Not as European as it sounds
Despite its name, Eurovision has never been strictly limited to European countries. Eligibility rests not on geography but on whether a country's broadcaster belongs to the European Broadcasting Union, a membership that extends beyond Europe's borders. Israel has taken part since the 1970s, and Australia has competed since 2015 after being invited by the union — a precedent Canada now follows.
The contest, first held in 1956, has grown into one of the world's largest live television events, with participating countries each submitting an original song and results decided by a mix of public voting and national juries.
What comes next
Canada is expected to select its entry through a national contest, giving audiences a say in who represents the country, though CBC/Radio-Canada has said full details of the format, selection process and voting will follow later. As a debutant, Canada would take part in the semi-finals rather than qualifying automatically for the final.
The move continues Eurovision's gradual expansion beyond its traditional base and offers Canadian artists a new, high-profile international platform. It also raises practical questions the broadcaster will need to answer — from how a distant, multi-time-zone country fits into a European broadcast schedule to how it builds an audience for a contest still finding its footing in North America.
