Photo: Dati Bendo / European Union, via Wikimedia Commons. File photo from the June 2025 EU-Canada summit in Brussels, not a photo of the Montreal summit.
Canada and the European Union have launched what they call an Alliance for the Future, deepening their economic and security partnership at a two-day summit in Montreal and putting fresh money behind Ukraine as its war with Russia grinds on.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hosted the Canada-EU summit on October 29 and 30, alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa. In a joint statement, the two sides announced more than 20 measures aimed at strengthening economic security, creating opportunities and protecting sovereignty on both sides of the Atlantic.
"Today in Montreal, we have taken a major step forward by establishing more than twenty measures that will increase affordability, create opportunities and ensure our sovereignty on both sides of the Atlantic," Carney said.
A digital deal and a minerals pact
Among the concrete outcomes, the two sides concluded negotiations on a digital trade agreement designed to make cross-border business easier and set clearer rules for digital services, electronic transactions and data transfers. The agreement is expected to sit alongside the existing Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which has underpinned Canada-EU trade since 2017.
The joint statement also set out an agreement under which the European Investment Bank will invest in critical Canadian resources, particularly raw minerals. Critical minerals have become a strategic priority as Western governments try to reduce dependence on China for materials used in batteries, electronics and defence equipment.
The leaders also discussed cooperation on artificial intelligence, energy and technology, and on responding to wildfires, as part of a broader effort to build what the summit described as a shared space of prosperity and economic security.
Canada joins the €90 billion Ukraine loan
Ukraine was high on the agenda. Carney announced that Canada will join the EU's €90 billion (about $103 billion) support loan for Kyiv, with an initial Canadian contribution of €500 million (about $559 million).
Canada's participation would also allow Ukraine to purchase military equipment from Canadian defence companies using EU funds, according to a Canadian government backgrounder. Kyiv expects a budget shortfall of at least €70 billion next year, even after accounting for €45 billion that the EU is already set to disburse, and Brussels has warned that the loan alone may not be enough to sustain Ukraine's war effort.
The announcement adds to a recent run of pledges for Kyiv: Norway pledged $9 billion for 2027 on October 7, and the United Kingdom announced a $13 billion pledge on October 28, its largest ever. The EU and its member states have so far mobilised €231.5 billion for Ukraine in financial, economic, military and humanitarian support.
The 'associate member' idea — and its limits
The summit took place just over a month after von der Leyen used her State of the Union address on September 16 to float the idea of Canada becoming the EU's first "associate member." Carney himself used the term at a business roundtable with von der Leyen in Montreal, saying Canada and the EU were working to establish "the closest possible partnership, which will be far from full membership."
But the term has no legal basis and proved controversial among some EU states, and it was left out of the final joint statement. Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia also negotiated not to contribute to the costs of the Ukraine loan.
The backdrop to the whole summit is pressure from Washington. Both Canada and the EU have been hit by US tariff measures under President Donald Trump, and both have been moving to diversify partnerships and reduce reliance on an increasingly unpredictable United States. The Montreal summit is the clearest sign yet of that shift — two long-standing US allies building a closer alliance of their own.
Sources: Al Jazeera; The Kyiv Independent; Associated Press reporting via The Straits Times.