During a news conference with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Canada–European Union Summit in Montreal, Carney introduced a slew of agreements to further harmonize Canada’s economy with Europe, including the extension to Canada of the EU’s flagship funding program for education, training, youth and sport, Erasmus.
What does the partnership mean for Canada?
Canada’s accession to the Erasmus+ program would mean it gains access to the massive centralized EU funding pool, which supports billions of dollars in grants for international student travel and various academic partnerships?
But entering this program requires the federal government to pay a buy-in cost directly into the EU budget before Canadian institutions can gain access to those funds.
The cost of buying in is yet to be announced.
If the U.K.’s recent Erasmus+ agreement is any indication of potential costs for non-EU members to join the program, then Canada can expect to cough up over $1 billion to fully participate in 2027.
“We don’t view this as ‘paying for something,’” Carney told reporters about the cost of becoming an associate member of the EU.
“We view this as coming together … this is a positive association.”
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