OTTAWA — The European Parliament is establishing an office in Ottawa to facilitate more regular exchanges between its members and Canadian parliamentarians, Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, announced Monday.
Closer parliamentary ties
The new office is intended to deepen dialogue on shared concerns ranging from Arctic policy and security to transatlantic trade. Metsola said the office will help members of the European Parliament — the legislature representing roughly 720 elected politicians from EU member states — better understand issues that also command attention on Parliament Hill.
"This office will help politicians better understand issues such as the Arctic, security and transatlantic trade," Metsola said.
The announcement comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares to address the European Parliament later this week, a sign of intensified engagement between Ottawa and Brussels at the parliamentary level. While European Parliament delegations have previously visited Ottawa with the support of the EU diplomatic mission, the new office signals a more permanent institutional presence for legislative exchanges.
What the office will do for Ottawa
For Ottawa, the office represents an expansion of the city’s role as a hub for international, legislative and diplomatic conversation. Officials in both capitals have long relied on embassies and diplomatic missions to arrange government-level visits; the European Parliament’s new presence intends to broaden that to include more sustained, direct contact between legislators.
Local implications may include:
- More regular visits from members of the European Parliament and their staff to meet with MPs and senators.
- Expanded opportunities for Canadian parliamentarians to travel to Brussels and other European cities with more structured parliamentary support.
- Enhanced co-operation on policy areas where Canadian and European priorities overlap, such as Arctic governance, security partnerships and trade relationships.
Global footprint and precedent
The European Parliament already maintains nine offices around the world to facilitate parliamentary exchanges, including locations in Kyiv, London and Panama. The Ottawa office will join that network, providing a direct channel for institutional dialogue outside the traditional embassy system.
| Existing EU Parliament offices | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Kyiv, London, Panama (among others) | Facilitate parliamentary exchanges, observe regional developments, support legislative dialogue |
While the EU diplomatic mission in Ottawa has supported visits in the past, the European Parliament’s dedicated office is expected to create more structured and continuous engagement between legislatures. That could alter how parliamentary diplomacy is practised in the capital, shifting some activity from ad hoc delegations to planned, ongoing programmes.
Questions for Parliament Hill
Parliamentary staff and legislators on both sides will need to establish mechanisms for co-ordination. That includes scheduling exchanges, determining the remit of the office’s staff and clarifying how it will interact with Canada’s embassy in Brussels and the EU delegation in Ottawa. Details on staffing, exact opening date and officespace were not provided in the announcement.
For Ottawa residents, the move reinforces the city’s status as a centre of international policy discussion. It also underlines that parliamentary diplomacy — the exchanges between elected legislators — is becoming a more prominent channel for cross-border co-operation on issues that touch Canadians, from Arctic sovereignty and environmental stewardship to trade ties with Europe.
The report was first published by The Canadian Press and updated Sept. 14, 2026. Coverage here focuses on what the new office means for Ottawa’s parliamentary and diplomatic landscape.
