Disappointed with the United States due to unprecedented tariffs and repeated verbal assaults on its sovereignty by US President Donald Trump, as well as uncertainty associated with buying American arms, Canada is forging closer ties with Europe to reduce its dependence on its North American ally.
Prime Minister Mark Carney signed a strategic defense and security partnership with the European Union (EU) on June 23.
The deal would pave the way for Canadian businesses to join the CAD $1.25 trillion (€800 billion) ReArm Europe initiative, which is viewed as a step in reducing Canada’s dependence on the United States going forward.
Launched in March 2025 by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the ReArm initiative aims to mobilize up to €800 billion by 2030 to enhance Europe’s defense infrastructure and reduce reliance on external partners, particularly in response to geopolitical threats and the Russia-Ukraine war.
In the long run, Canada’s agreement with the EU will also allow the country to collaborate with other allies to purchase military hardware through the SAFE program, which aims to support states that wish to invest in defence industrial production through common procurement.
The SAFE program aims to boost production capacity, ensuring that defence equipment is available when needed, and to address existing capability gaps, ultimately strengthening the EU’s overall defence readiness.
Referring to Canada’s potential participation in SAFE, Von der Leyen said, “The access of Canada to our joint procurement in the European Union, the door is open.”
With today’s announcement of the New EU-Canada Strategic Partnership of the Future, we’re marking a historic step forward for Canada’s strategic defence and trade partnership with the European Union. Details: https://t.co/RSvptqr6An
— Prime Minister of Canada (@CanadianPM) June 23, 2025
Meanwhile, Carney said, “It will help us deliver on our new requirements for capabilities more rapidly and more effectively, it will help build our industries, secure our jurisdictions. “We are very pleased to be taking this important step towards participation in SAFE as part of ReArm/Readiness Europe, bringing shared expertise, joint research, and innovation.” Carney also called for further advancements in defense cooperation fields, such as dual-use industrial projects and aerospace.
Nations with a defense and security pact with the EU are eligible to participate in joint weapon acquisition funded under the €150 billion Safe program, although they must negotiate a supplementary technical agreement.
Regarding Canadian access to the joint procurement system, von der Leyen promised that both parties would “swiftly launch talks.”
According to a joint EU-Canada statement published in the aftermath, the two sides will boost co-operation on maritime security, cybersecurity and other threats to further peace efforts, expand maritime security co-operation and increase co-ordinated naval activities, increase defence industrial co-operation, co-operate on defence procurement through the ReArm Europe initiative, and work toward a bilateral agreement related to SAFE.
Additionally, it calls for exploring the formation of closer ties between Canada and the European Defence Agency, protecting democratic institutions by working together to combat disinformation, and enhancing Canada’s integration with EU forces to improve interoperability in the field.
Notably, while the program is not as expansive as NATO, it is likely to complement NATO.
“While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness faster and better — to invest more and smarter,” European Council President António Costa said at a press conference after the summit.
Earlier, the UK also signed similar deals with the European Union, and Australia announced it was negotiating a defense and strategic partnership with the EU, as the United States becomes increasingly unreliable under the current Donald Trump administration.
These strategic partnership agreements make sense, particularly because Trump has hinted at the possibility of leaving the NATO alliance on multiple occasions and insinuated that it would not be responsible for Europe’s defense.
However, for Canada, the decision is more significant and comes as it becomes more disenchanted with Washington by the day.
Away From The United States
Last month, Carney expressed his desire to join ReArm Europe, significantly increase defense expenditure on the continent over the next five years, and reduce dependency on the United States, as tensions with the US reached a peak.
“Seventy-five cents of every (Canadian) dollar of capital spending for defence goes to the United States. That’s not smart,” Carney told CBC in May 2025.
Right after signing the agreement with the EU, Carney will now attend the NATO summit in the Hague, the Netherlands, where the alliance is expected to debate raising the defence spending benchmark to a combined five per cent of a country’s gross domestic product, as consistently insisted by the United States. Canada, for one, has long been a laggard as far as the NATO defense spending targets are concerned.
The US House Speaker, Mike Johnson, went so far as to say last year that Canada was “riding on America’s coattails.”
Canada has been miffed by Donald Trump’s repeated statements about making it the 51st state of the United States of America, seen as a direct attack on Canadian sovereignty. In November 2024, Trump called the former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the “governor of the 51st state.”
More recently, on May 7, 2025, Trump reiterated his willingness to merge Canada into the United States in a meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister, prompting Carney to firmly reject the idea, stating, “Canada is not for sale.”
When Trump publicly unveiled plans for the futuristic Golden Dome missile shield last month, Canada showed interest in joining the program. However, Trump turned around and made yet another controversial offer, saying Canada could join the “Golden Dome” missile defense shield for free — but only if it becomes part of the US. Otherwise, it would cost Canada $61 billion to be part of the system.
The two states have also been locked in a tariff battle. Trump initially announced a 25% tariff on Canadian goods, citing concerns over border security, fentanyl trafficking, and migration. Canada retaliated by imposing 25% counter-tariffs on $30 billion worth of US goods. It has since paused some of these tariffs, but the issue is far from resolved.
In fact, Carney recently said he will impose new tariffs on US steel and aluminum imports on July 21, depending on the progress of trade talks with Donald Trump.
Amid rising tensions, Canada said it was reexamining its ties with the United States, which included reconsidering the purchase of F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets.
Canada ordered 88 fifth-generation F-35A fighters from the US in 2023. The first tranche of 16 jets, already paid for, is scheduled to arrive in the country early next year. However, amid prevailing mistrust, it said it is considering the possibility of canceling the rest of the purchase and exploring alternatives in Europe instead.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, for one, has been trying to capitalize on the prevailing atmosphere of mistrust and uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s controversial policies to boost the sales of French arms.
European friends, you have a call. pic.twitter.com/VY7gmqPUKZ
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 20, 2025
The French President has called upon the world to buy European, projecting his Rafale as the poster child of European arms.
On June 20, during his visit to the Paris Air Show, Macron once again pitched the Dassault Rafale fighter jet to his European partners as a symbol of strategic autonomy and self-reliance in defense platforms.
Though he didn’t explicitly name the F-35, his promotion of Rafale in the name of European ‘self-reliance’ has renewed the debate of Rafale vs F-35 amid growing skepticism of US reliability.
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