Mark Carney: Canada is now the first non-European country to be granted a membership in SAFE.

[Emrys]

8. There are options other than full EU membership which might suit Canada (and the EU) better

Membership of EFTA (European Free Trade Association) might be one option which would confer a number of the benefits of EU membership - e.g. access to the European single market and other worldwide free trade agreements - without some of the political entanglements. But EFTA currently only has four members - Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland - and adding Canada with a vastly larger economy would likely unbalance it.

The EEA might be another option. It currently includes the EU member states plus the EFTA members minus Liechtenstein and Switzerland. That would give rights to free movement of capital, goods, services and people.

The other option would be a customized wide-ranging free trade agreement between Canada and the EU with whatever other bangs and whistles might seem like a good idea. That would be bulding on what's already in place, and is probably most likely to happen.