Previous Canadian artists who have participated in the competition include Céline Dion, who won in 1988 for SwitzerlandEurovision Song Contest director Martin Green says Canada’s participation is further a sign that the contest is opening ​up to the world. Photograph: Tobias Steinmaurer/APA/AFP via Getty Images Canada will join the ​Eurovision Song Contest in 2027, organisers of the colourful music competition watched by millions around the world announced on Wednesday, becoming the first new country to join since Australia in 2015.Participation is not limited to countries in geographic Europe but instead applies to all ​members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an alliance open to others outside the Continent and which Canada joined last week. Australia is ⁠an associate member.The usually good-natured pop competition, which attracted a global audience of 130 million this year, ‌its ‌70th, ​was plunged into crisis in 2026 due to a boycott by heavyweights Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland, as well as Iceland and Slovenia, over Israel’s participation.Those countries ⁠had called for Israel’s expulsion due ​to its military offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led ​attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023.Russia has been excluded from Eurovision since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in ‌2022.CBC/Radio Canada ​will share details on how the country’s entry will be selected later this year, the EBU says. ⁠The contest next year will be hosted ⁠in Bulgaria after it ​won the contest for the first time in May. Canada ranked in the top three countries in Eurovision’s “Rest of the World” vote, which permits viewers outside the participating countries to help choose the winner, the EBU says, adding that Canadians are also among the largest ticket-buyers outside of Europe. “Our participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, starting next year in Bulgaria, will allow Canadian talent to be showcased on one of the most storied music stages in the world,” says Marie-Philippe Bouchard, ‌president and chief executive of CBC/Radio-Canada. [ Eurovision 2026: From boycotts to media blackouts, this is now a spectacle under pressureOpens in new window ]“It will also allow fans in Canada to continue watching and voting in the Song Contest, as they have done for years – with the added thrill of seeing ‌their own country represented on the Eurovision stage.”Canada’s participation is a further sign that, while born in Europe, the contest is opening ​up to the world, says Eurovision director Martin Green. He points to previous Canadian artists who have participated in the competition, including Céline Dion, who won in 1988 for Switzerland. – ReutersIN THIS SECTION