Wildfire aircraft, critical minerals and low-carbon energy sit at the heart of a wide-ranging new partnership that Canada and the European Union intend to unveil at a summit next month, according to a draft joint statement obtained by POLITICO.
Leaders will make the announcement when they gather in Montreal starting Oct. 29. The draft statement, circulated to EU ambassadors ahead of the meeting, frames the moment as one shaped by “unprecedented geopolitical challenges as well as challenges across trade, energy, technology, climate, and resources.”
Both governments have been working to shore up strategic ties as they absorb the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war. After talks between Ottawa and Washington collapsed in August, Trump imposed tariffs of 25% to 50% on Canadian goods and floated the idea of absorbing Canada as a “51st US state.”
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Under the plan, the two sides want to accelerate investment in critical mineral projects, strengthen supply chains and improve supply security. That includes stockpiling resources to guard against “market fluctuations and geopolitical impacts.” On energy, the draft envisions developing low-carbon, reliable power drawn from liquified natural gas, hydro, solar, wind and nuclear, with strategies, standards and industries aligned across the two economies.
A concrete climate measure also features. Ottawa and Brussels plan to announce the joint purchase of 50 De Havilland water bombers, ready for use in Canada and Europe by 2030 to fight wildfires.
Momentum for the summit follows an invitation extended earlier this month by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for Canada to become the bloc’s first-ever “associate member,” a status that does not yet exist in the EU treaties. That offer drew an immediate threat of tariffs from Trump.
Underpinning it all is the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which removed 98% of tariffs and lifted bilateral goods and services trade by more than 80% to 130 billion euros, though ten of 27 member states have yet to fully ratify it.
