The European Parliament will establish a representative office in Canada’s capital to strengthen ties with Canadian lawmakers, following approval by its Bureau on September 14, 2026. The decision comes ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s scheduled address to Parliament in Strasbourg on September 17.
The Ottawa office will facilitate exchanges between parliamentarians and help explain the European Parliament’s work to Canadian audiences. Its geographic remit will also extend to the Arctic, according to the announcement reported by Agence Europe. The approval concerns the establishment of the office, rather than the start of its operations.
A Local Base for Longstanding Parliamentary Ties
The new office will build on decades of parliamentary cooperation. The European Parliament already has a delegation dedicated to relations with Canada, which has held annual meetings with Canadian parliamentarians for more than 40 years. Those meetings alternate between Brussels, Ottawa and other Canadian locations.
The delegation also meets throughout the year in Brussels and Strasbourg, sometimes with Canadian lawmakers participating. A representative office in Ottawa is intended to support those exchanges through a local presence.
The broader relationship rests on agreements covering both political cooperation and trade. The EU–Canada Strategic Partnership Agreement provides a framework for collaboration on security, energy, research and other issues. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, known as CETA, has been provisionally applied since September 2017.
Trade and Security on Carney’s European Agenda
The office decision coincides with a Canadian diplomatic push to deepen economic and security ties with Europe. Carney’s September 15–17 trip includes Strasbourg, France, and Liverpool, United Kingdom. His European Parliament engagements will focus on trade, investment and security, according to his office.
Carney is visiting Parliament at the invitation of its president, Roberta Metsola. Alongside his own address, he is scheduled to attend European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union speech and meet with members of Parliament.
Canada and the EU launched a new strategic partnership framework and signed a security and defense partnership in June 2025. The latter brings their security cooperation under a single political framework but is not legally binding.
The next Canada–EU summit is scheduled to take place in Canada on October 29–30, 2026, providing the next high-level setting for talks on the wider relationship.
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