The Eurovision Song Contest has confirmed that Canada is now eligible to participate, although it remains unclear whether the country will accept the invitation following a series of withdrawals from the 2026 edition.
On Thursday, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organisation behind the annual event, announced Canada's full membership following a vote at its 96th General Assembly in Prague (via The Hollywood Reporter).
CBC/Radio-Canada has been an associate member of the EBU since 1950. Following the decision to make it a full member, Canada can now fully participate in all EBU events.
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"Canada's voice in this community makes us stronger," Noel Curran, director general of the EBU, said in a statement.
While Canadian superstar Celine Dion may have won the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland in 1988, we'll have to watch this space to see whether any Canadian artists step forward for the popular music contest.
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This comes after five countries - The Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia - withdrew from the 2026 edition, which saw ratings nosedive.
Ahead of this year's competition, Ireland and Spain confirmed that they would not broadcast the live show. The string of exits came as a response to Israel's ongoing participation in the contest.
Slovenia soon followed, with RTV Slovenia's director Ksenija Horvat telling the Associated Press (via Guardian): "We will not be broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest. We will be airing the film series Voices of Palestine, featuring Palestinian documentaries and feature films."
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Following a series of boycotts, the 2026 contest, which was won by Bulgaria, saw a huge drop in ratings, with this year's singing competition watched by 131 million viewers, down by 35 million since 2025.
Sharing a statement about the drop, Eurovision director Martin Green said: "While some of our figures are naturally lower without those of our five members who chose not to participate this year, we remain committed to doing everything possible to find pathways back for them in 2027."
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Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy.
A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.
In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.
