The members of the Global Coalition on Telecommunications (GCOT), which includes Canada, announced Monday the European Union, represented by the European Commission, has become the coalition’s first strategic partner.
GCOT was established in 2023 by the governments of Canada, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to foster multilateral cooperation on telecommunications security, resilience and innovation policy. In March 2026, the coalition’s membership was expanded to include the governments of Finland and Sweden.
The new strategic partnership “recognizes the valuable contributions that the Coalition and the European Union will each bring through their policy, technical, research and innovation capabilities to achieve shared goals,” reads a press release from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
“Welcoming the European Union as the Global Coalition on Telecommunications’ first strategic partner marks a significant milestone in our shared efforts to build secure, resilient and trusted telecommunications networks,” Mélanie Joly, Canada’s industry minister, said in a statement. “Canada is proud to work alongside like-minded partners to advance policies, research and innovation that strengthen global connectivity and safeguard the technologies that underpin our economies and societies.”
As a strategic partner, the European Union will have the option to participate in discussions, support issue-specific workstreams led by member governments, and endorse publications and initiatives on a voluntary basis, ISED said in its press release.
The coalition’s membership is responsible for setting strategic direction and for decision-making on governance and operational activities, and the exercise of these functions may be informed through engagements with strategic partners, ISED said. Strategic partnerships are intended to provide more flexibility for collaboration with the coalition and to provide opportunities to strengthen engagement between the membership and like-minded partners, including other multilateral organizations, ISED added.
Canada is currently acting as chair of the steering group for the coalition until the end of 2026.
