Carney wants to make Canada the EU’s first ‘associate member.’  But what exactly does that mean?

Canada isn’t joining the European Union. But Prime Minister Mark Carney has embraced an unprecedented proposal to make Canada the EU’s first “associate member” — and exactly what that means has yet to be decided.

The proposal could draw Canada much more deeply into Europe’s economic and strategic orbit, with closer cooperation on defense, energy, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, digital trade, and even opportunities for Canadians and Europeans to live and work across the Atlantic.

While that’s not an explicit call to adapt European migration policy, it seems fair to ask: How far does Carney ultimately intend that mobility to extend?

And it comes as Canada’s relationship with its overwhelmingly largest trading partner, the United States, remains strained.

Vague ‘ambition’

In a speech Thursday to the European Parliament in Strasbourg,