Canada will be taking part in the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest in Bulgaria, announced the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Canadian public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada on Wednesday.
It is the first new country to join since Australia in 2015.
CBC/Radio-Canada will announce later this year exactly how the Canadian entry will be selected. The country's participation has been made possible by the broadcaster becoming a full member of the EBU last week, which grants it the right to take part.
There is considerable interest in the Song Contest in Canada: at the 70th edition in May, the country finished in the top three in the "Rest of the World" vote.
Canadians were also among the biggest buyers of tickets outside Europe; many travelled to Vienna for the semi-finals and the final.
"We are delighted to be bringing the world’s biggest live music event to Canadians," said Marie-Philippe Bouchard, President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada.
According to her, this gives Canadian talent access to one of the most prestigious music stages in the world.
Martin Green, the EBU’s Eurovision Song Contest director, highlighted the link between Canada and the contest. Several Canadian artists have already performed on the stage, the most famous being the 1988 winner, Céline Dion.
Just 35 countries took part in the most recent edition in Vienna earlier this year – the lowest number of participating countries since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004 at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain boycotted the contest following the announcement that Israel would be allowed to take part. It is not yet clear whether this group of countries will also abstain from participating in 2027.
