It is with deep embarrassment I must confess that I have never been to Canada, and half of what I know about the country comes from the American cartoon "South Park." The other half is from maps and social media.

But journalists often dive into subjects they knew nothing about earlier in the day, so a modest grasp of the basics is hardly a barrier.

This Wednesday it became clear that Canada is our — meaning the EU's — new best friend, with whom European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to begin talks on an associated-member status.

A glance at the map shows that Canada is indeed great. Counting maritime areas, it is the second-largest country in the world, bigger than China or the United States. Counting only land area, it ranks fourth after those two. In reality, most of Canada's more than 41 million people live in a narrow strip near the U.S. border, specifically in two provinces: Ontario and Quebec.

This economic-geographic fact can be flipped the other way: Canada is a vast treasure of pristine nature and biodiversity on a scale that is hard to even imagine. Enormous forests, mountain ranges, thousands of lakes, expansive Arctic landscapes.

And hefty natural resources. Canada has twice as much oil in the ground as Russia, even though it produces less. Metal ores, natural gas and more — plenty of the very things European industry is scouring the world for.

Are we in need for such a friend? I, for one, see no reason for Europe to slam the door in their face.

Any Estonian can now pat their pals in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal on the shoulder and mumble: "Been there, done that!" After all, we too once had our own association agreement with the EU.

The goal of that 1995 association agreement was to lay the foundation for economic, financial, cultural and social cooperation with the European Community. The agreement had to be approved by all EU member states and therefore only entered into force in 1998 — six years before Estonia became a full member.

Presumably, the idea behind the new agreement planned with Canada will be similar in spirit, with the exact content to be determined later. I saw a claim that the future agreement would allow EU and Canadian citizens to travel visa-free, but that is inaccurate: visa-free travel already exists. The Estonian foreign ministry's website states that Estonian citizens may stay in Canada visa-free for up to 180 days.

More likely, it will become easier in the future to go work across the ocean — if even temporarily. I found a thread on Facebook about life in Canada and learned that rent in Toronto and Vancouver is more expensive than in Edmonton or Winnipeg. Salaries, however, are better in the big cities. Toronto residents can easily get by with public transport, while in Edmonton you need a car to get around. Good practical information worth keeping in mind.

Meanwhile, Canada cannot be considered as a new union republic. First, Canada is not a republic at all — its head of state is King Charles III, represented locally by the governor general.

Second, Canada is clearly looking toward Europe precisely because relations with Donald Trump's America have soured and the EU seems like a reasonable partner — the kind that doesn't go around renaming your lakes. The constant nagging about Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state has exhausted the northern nation. Lately, the White House sounds like it's stuck on repeat, playing the "South Park" movie song "Blame Canada."

Still, one shouldn't expect too much quickly from this new great Canada–Europe concord. The EU and Canada already have a comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA), which eliminates 99 percent of tariffs. The agreement has been provisionally in force since 2017 but will only fully apply after ratification — and several EU member states have not managed to approve it in the past ten years. Before striking new principal deals, CETA needs to be finalized (Estonia did its part back in 2017).

What do Canadians think about closer ties with the EU? According to a survey conducted in early September by Abacus Data, 80 percent of Canadians believe Canada should deepen strategic cooperation with the EU in foreign policy, defense and the economy. Eighty-one percent support closer integration with the EU while remaining outside it — including easier trade, travel, work and study, as well as stronger security cooperation.

It is truly astonishing that 49 percent support full EU membership and 30 percent oppose it in the Canadian poll. Many Canadians are likely not very familiar with Brussels' own-goals, such as the packaging directive that burdens small businesses…

Incidentally, when people say Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was welcomed in the European Parliament in Strasbourg like a rock star, it's no surprise at all. After all, one of the world's greatest rock bands — Rush — is from Canada.

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