Canada is set to make its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in , represented by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC/Radio-Canada) as the participating broadcaster. It will be the first country from the Americas to join the contest, and the second from outside the European Broadcasting Area, following .
Background The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC/Radio-Canada) has a long-standing relationship with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), of which it had been an associate member since the union's creation in 1950. CBC/Radio-Canada became the first EBU associate member to be invited to participate in a Eurovision event, when it entered Eurovision Young Dancers in and . It was the only EBU associate member invited to any Eurovision event until 's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) was invited to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in .
Although Canada had not participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in its own right, several Canadian artists had represented other countries: Sherisse Laurence represented ,"High note!" Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph, May 3, 1986. Céline Dion won for , Lara Fabian represented , Annie Cotton represented , Natasha St-Pier represented , Rykka represented , Katerine Duska represented , and La Zarra represented . Laurell has co-written the songs for several countries' entries, and Corneille wrote the song for .
Following the launch of the American Song Contest in 2022, the EBU announced on 25 April 2022 that it would expand the Eurovision brand into North America by creating Eurovision Canada. Through Voxovation, which holds the license to adapt the Eurovision format for other territories, it partnered with Canadian production company Insight Productions to develop the competition, with plans for the inaugural edition to take place in 2023. The competition was designed to feature musical acts representing each of Canada's ten provinces and three territories, and consist of televised qualifying rounds, semi-finals and a live final. Artists were expected to perform original songs, with the winner determined by a combination of public voting and a jury of music industry professionals. The project experienced delays and a prolonged lack of updates from organisers throughout 2023 and 2024. In May 2025, a spokesperson for CBC/Radio-Canada confirmed that Eurovision Canada had been shelved. Following consultations with various industry stakeholders, the broadcaster determined that the logistical and financial demands of producing a multi-week, live national touring competition across Canada were "prohibitively expensive".
In November 2025, the Canadian government led by Prime Minister Mark Carney published its budget for 2025; included in it is a section where the government would work with CBC/Radio-Canada to explore a potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. The broadcaster's news division reported that Carney himself was "personally involved in the push", according to two government sources.
At its 96th general assembly in Prague, Czech Republic, on 25 June 2026, the EBU approved a revision of its statutes. Historically, full EBU membership required the broadcasters' countries to fall within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or hold membership in the Council of Europe (CoE). The approved changes created a new membership framework, allowing public broadcasters from countries outside the EBA or that are not members of the CoE to obtain full membership, provided they meet core CoE standards and their country maintain a formal observer status with the CoE. As Canada is a CoE observer state, the statutory change made CBC/Radio-Canada eligible for full EBU integration. The assembly subsequently voted to accept CBC/Radio-Canada as a full EBU member, granting the broadcaster immediate rights to apply for any Eurovision event without a special invitation.
On 1 July 2026, Canada Day, the EBU and CBC/Radio-Canada released a joint announcement confirming that Canada would make its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest 2027 in Bulgaria. In August, the CBC announced the start of the artist selection process, with applications open from 31 August to 9 September before a public and jury process decides the winner.Alex Hudson, "Canada Launching Applications for Eurovision Song Contest 2027". Exclaim!, 24 August 2026. The song that the chosen artist will perform at the contest will be "developed" later.
The CBC/Radio-Canada subsequently clarified that future years may see the launch of a televised national final, but that it was not possible to organise one in 2026 due to the limited time frame.J. Kelly Nestruck, "CBC says bbno$ could represent Canada in Eurovision, but not Angine de Poitrine". The Globe and Mail, September 5, 2026. It also clarified that the song will include both English and French lyrics, although the winning artist will be able to bring in a guest collaborator if they are not fluent in one of the languages rather than necessarily having to be bilingual.
Participation overview + Table key 1 First place 2 Second place 3 Third place ◁ Last place--> ◇ Entry selected but did not compete † Upcoming event
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points Confirmed intention to participate †
Related involvement
Heads of delegation Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others. At the 2027 contest, the Canadian head of delegation will be Jennifer Dettman.
Broadcasts Year Channel(s) Commentator(s) CBC-FM Mieke Hollenbach – colspan="3" Radio-Canada Céline Dion and René Angélil TV5 Québec Canada rowspan="2" – colspan="3" rowspan="3" TV5 Québec Canada TV5 Québec Canada colspan="3" TV5 Québec Canada – colspan="3" OutTVAdam Rollins and Tommy D. OutTV – colspan="3" Omni Television Omni Television Omni Television – colspan="3" CBC/Radio-Canada
See also Canada in the OTI Festival
Notes
References