Canada

Canada is a net exporter of most energy commodities and is an especially significant producer of conventional and unconventional oil, natural gas, hydroelectricity and renewable energy. Canada is a key, and like-minded, energy partner of the EU.

Both the EU and Canada seek to improve and diversify energy supplies, promote innovation and increase deployment of renewable energy sources as well as energy efficiency towards their shared goal of achieving climate-neutrality by 2050.

EU-Canada Agreements and the Green Alliance

The EU and Canada cooperate under the 

• Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA), signed in October 2016
• EU Canada High-Level Energy Dialogue (HLED), established in 2007
• Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), signed in Octoner 2016
• EU-Canada Green Alliance, established in November 2023

The EU-Canada Green Alliance was established to strengthen and further align the EU and Canada’s objectives on energy, climate action, the environment, research and innovation and climate and biodiversity financing.

It includes a joint commitment to promoting ambitious climate action on the global stage through supporting developing countries and emerging economies, pursuing global energy efficiency and renewable energy targets and advancing work to reduce methane emissions.

Under the alliance, the EU also became a partner of Canada’s Global Carbon Pricing Challenge, which seeks to increase explicit carbon pricing coverage of global emissions to 60% by 2030 and establishes a forum for enhanced collaboration on emissions trading.

The High-Level Energy Dialogue was established in 2007 and revitalised at the EU-Canada Summit in 2014. It covers key areas for cooperation such as energy security, energy efficiency, renewable energy, nuclear energy, methane emissions reduction, cooperation on Ukraine, improved market transparency and stability and cooperation in international fora, such as the International Renewal Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Recognising the essential role that clean hydrogen will play in decarbonising our economies and meeting global energy needs, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed at the EU Canada Summit on 23-24 November 2023 to lay the foundation for the development of a reliable hydrogen supply chain between Canada and the EU, as well as to develop common approaches to standards and the certification of hydrogen. The 2 sides announced an enhanced roadmap to advance the commercialisation of the hydrogen industry and develop transatlantic trade. Given the EU's important role in the Global Methane Pledge, as the largest importer of fossil fuel, and Canada's role as a major producer and exporter, the 2 leaders also agreed to develop a joint roadmap on methane emissions in the energy sector.

The most recent energy dialogue took place on 25 June 2021.

Several workshops on different energy-related issues have been organised by the Commission and Canada in the past years.

Following the 2020 workshop on energy efficiency, a series of 5 'Canada-EU exchange' webinars were carried out in the first half of 2021. 

Under the EU Climate Dialogues Programme, the Commission has organised another series of workshops in the second half of 2023 and 2024, focussing on methane emissions reduction. The outcome of the dialogues will provide the basis for the drafting of the EU Canada joint roadmap on methane agreed in November 2023. More information on these events and the link to follow the webinars are added to the list below.

• 20 June 2024 - EU-Canada Dialogue on Methane | Final Policy Discussion
• 15 May 2024 - CanCH4 Symposium Special Event 
• 14 March 2024 - EU-Canada Dialogue on Methane – Business-to-Business sessions
• 23 January 2024 - Boosting transparency and bilateral action on methane mitigation to meet net-zero targets amidst new regulations in Canada and the EU
• 14 September 2023 – EU-Canada Dialogue on Methane – Towards a measurement-based methane emissions framework

• Joint statement: EU-Canada Summit 2023 (24 November 2023)
• Press release: EU and Canada establish a Green Alliance (24 November 2023)
• EU-Canada Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) (2016)
• Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) (2016)
• EU-Canada relations (European External Action Service)
• Delegation of the EU to Canada