Canada and the European Union announce new Alliance for the Future to create greater affordability, opportunity, and sovereignty

MONTRÉAL, Oct. 30, 2026 /CNW/ -- A more dangerous and divided world has fundamentally changed the requirements of sovereignty. It is no longer enough for nations to feed, fuel, and defend ourselves. Today, true sovereignty – the ability to live our lives as we choose – requires secure access to critical minerals, semiconductors, payment systems, energy, vaccines, space-based communications, and artificial intelligence (AI).

To these ends, Canada hosted the Canada- EU Summit in Montréal, Québec. At the Summit, Prime Minister, Mark Carney, was joined by the President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to launch the Alliance for the Future – a new partnership of nations that will leverage the strategic capabilities of Canada, the EU, and a variable geometry of like-minded nations to address common issues. Together, Canada and the EU will deliver more choice and lower costs for families, new export markets for businesses, and greater opportunities for young people to live, work, and study where they want – in Canada or the EU.

In parallel, Canada and the EU are working towards the deepest possible partnership – short of accession – with Canada becoming the European Union's first Associate Member. Over the coming months, Canada and the EU will determine the substance, scale, and scope of this form of membership.

Today, the leaders announced more than twenty new measures that will create greater affordability, opportunity, and sovereignty on both sides of the Atlantic and launched negotiations to deliver multiple others.

To make life more affordable for their citizens, today Canada and the EU announced that we will:

• Keep prices fair when Canadians shop. Canada and the EU concluded negotiations toward a new Canada-EU Competition Agreement to enable Canadian and European authorities to crack down on anti-competitive practices by companies operating on both sides of the Atlantic.

Over the coming months, Canada and the EU will negotiate:

• Faster payment systems. We will support connecting Canada and the EU's instant payment systems to enable Canadians to send money to people and businesses in the EU seamlessly.
• More choice in banking and insurance. Canada and the EU will launch a Joint Working Group to explore opening their markets further to each other's banks, insurers and fintech companies.

To create more opportunities for Canadian students, researchers, and entrepreneurs, today Canada and the EU announced that we will:

• Give Canadian scientists access to some of the world's most powerful supercomputers. Canada has joined the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking. This initiative will give Canadian researchers, innovators and businesses access to JUPITER, one of the world's most powerful supercomputers. It will also accelerate collaboration on AI and research – speeding up discovery.
• Make it simpler for Canadian businesses to sell online across Europe. We concluded a new Canada-EU Digital Trade Agreement that will make it easier for Canadian businesses to sell goods and services online across Europe by updating digital trade rules and making cross-border transactions simpler.

Over the coming months, Canada and the EU will negotiate:

• More opportunities for Canadians to study, live, and work in Europe. Canada is launching negotiations to expand its participation in Erasmus+, Europe's flagship student and skills exchange program.
• Access for Canadian researchers to the world's biggest research collaborations. Canada and the EU will launch negotiations to join the next Horizon Europe. This will allow our researchers to pool resources, collaborate on cutting-edge technologies, and draw on Canadian and European world-class research institutes and universities.

To build greater collective sovereignty, today Canada and the EU announced:

• Canada's second SAFE contract. Through a more than $44 million contract, Montréal-based company, Galvion, will provide military helmets to Latvia – home to Canada's largest military presence abroad. This builds on Canada's first SAFE contract awarded to Montréal-based Marconi to build radios for Poland's Cyber Command.
• Increased production of Canadian-made waterbombers. Up to $2.5 billion in financing for Alberta-based De Havilland to dramatically increase waterbomber production capacity. This financing will help European partners and Canada fight wildfires and support thousands of jobs in Wheatland County, Alberta.
• Better connection for disaster response. Canada and the EU will advance cooperation on IRIS², one of the world's most advanced satellite systems. This satellite network will provide secure connectivity for governments, defence and emergency services during crises.
• More options for navigation services. By partnering with the EU's Galileo program and the European Space Agency, Canada will strengthen positioning data and navigation services across Canada and the Arctic.
• Stronger critical minerals supply chains. Canada signed a new treaty framework with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to allow the EIB to invest in Canadian critical minerals projects that will provide the materials needed for defence and the energy transition. Canada and the EU are launching work toward a raw materials stockpiling and investment framework to further mobilise investment and help build secure critical minerals supply chains.

Over the coming months, Canada and the EU will study how best to: 

• Connect Canada and Europe through secure digital infrastructure. We are taking the first steps toward a new transatlantic data cable that would give Canada and Europe a direct, secure route for rapid data exchange – reducing reliance on a single provider.
• Increase LNG exports. Canada and the EU will examine market conditions, infrastructure requirements, and other factors to assess the viability of increased exports.

The new Alliance of the Future is built for people – for students looking to study abroad, researchers seeking to push the boundaries of discovery, and entrepreneurs looking to reach new markets. We each bring unique strengths. Europe is the world's second-largest economy – bringing market strength and world-class research capabilities. Canada is an energy superpower – bringing critical minerals, LNG, and leading capabilities in space, AI, and quantum.

Together, we are building a better, more resilient future for our peoples – a future with more opportunity, lower costs, and greater sovereignty.

Quotes
"Our Alliance with the European Union is built on shared history, common values, and mutual respect. They are the foundation on which we move ever closer together to give our citizens more choice, more opportunity, and a more affordable future. That is what sovereignty looks like: the freedom to live our lives as we choose, on our own terms. The ambition to build a better, more prosperous world for ourselves, for our children, and for our children's children. Ours is an Alliance that delivers now and for the future."
-- The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada

"Canada and the European Union are trusted partners, united by shared values, strong people-to-people ties, and a common commitment to peace, security and prosperity. The initiatives announced today will take our cooperation further by strengthening our work on trade, technology, defence and innovation, building our resilience, and creating new opportunities for Canadians and Europeans on both sides of the Atlantic."
-- The Hon. Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs

"We have concluded negotiations on the Canada-EU Digital Trade Agreement, Canada's first agreement dedicated entirely to digital trade. It reduces friction in trade conducted online between Canada and the EU, giving businesses more certainty when they use electronic signatures to sign e-contracts, are selling software and digital products, or moving data across borders for commercial purposes, while ensuring that each side can continue to regulate in the public interest. Canadian businesses already exported nearly $15 billion in digitally deliverable services to the EU in 2024, and with this agreement, our digital sector of roughly 800,000 workers is ready to secure billions more in opportunities in the world's largest importer of digital services."
-- The Hon. Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade

Quick facts

• Canada hosted the 21^st Canada-European Union (EU) Summit in Montréal, Québec, from October 29 to 30, 2026. During the Summit, Prime Minister Carney:
  • Hosted the inaugural Canada-EU Business Forum, bringing together senior business and government leaders from both sides of the Atlantic to identify opportunities to strengthen competitiveness, facilitate trade and investment, build resilient supply chains, and deepen strategic economic cooperation. The Forum will become a recurring feature of future Canada-EU Summit programming, and Canada and the EU will carry forward recommendations from participants as they pursue the next phase of the Canada-EU partnership.
• The EU is Canada's second–largest global trading partner for goods and services, with a total value of approximately $178 billion in 2025.
• Over the past year and a half, Canada has moved with speed and determination to form an ambitious new partnership with the EU, including:
  • In June 2025, at the Canada-EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, Canada and the EU announced the New EU-Canada Strategic Partnership of the Future and the Security and Defence Partnership to deepen cooperation across trade, technology, energy, and security.
  • In February 2026, Canada became the first non-European country to join the EU's Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative – unlocking hundreds of millions of dollars in opportunities and market access for Canadian defence industries, businesses, and workers.
  • In May 2026, the Prime Minister became the first non-European leader to participate in the European Political Community Summit, in Armenia – another example of Canada's growing role as a trusted partner to Europe. 
  • Since May of 2025, Canada has secured several long-term LNG supply arrangements with EU off-takers, including Germany's SEFE and Uniper, and France's TotalEnergies.
  • In June 2026, Canada announced the first procurement secured through the SAFE initiative since becoming a member earlier this year. Under the agreement, Montréal-based Marconi Technologies will build made-in-Canada ORION tactical radios for the Polish Cyber Command.
  • In September 2026, the Prime Minister addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, where he outlined his vision for a deeper, more integrated Canada-EU partnership.

Related products

• Backgrounder: Canada and the European Union announce new Alliance for the Future to create greater affordability, opportunity, and sovereignty
• Joint Statement: Canada and the European Union building together an Alliance for the future

Associated link

• Canada and the European Union

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SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

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