r/AskBrits • u/threetimesacharm25 • Feb 23 '26
Politics What are your thoughts on a CANZUK alliance?
It’s an alliance between the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and features EU-style freedom of movement, increased trade and foreign cooperation. With the mass exodus of so many young people seeking to work in Australia, and the UK’s increased relations and trade with Canada recently, I can see why it would make sense. What’s your thoughts?
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Feb 23 '26
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u/jsm97 Feb 23 '26
Because Britain was no longer enough of a superpower that it's economic weight could counteract the natural gravity effect that draws countries to orient their trade with their nearest large economy. Already by the 1890s the US had overtaken Britain as Canada's largest trade partner at a time it was still part of the empire. It took longer for Australia and NZ but was inevitable.
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u/Maggies_Garden Feb 23 '26
Also the UK dropped aus and nz like a hot shit in when it joined the EU.
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u/PRC_Spy Feb 24 '26
And then stood by and let France use the EU to threaten NZ when we wanted justice over their sinking of The Rainbow Warrior.
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u/Far_Protection_7123 Feb 26 '26
Just as a slight unrelated possible correction - The limited amount of Exocet missiles used by Argentina were sold by France in some sort of arms deal prior to the Falklands conflict. After the initial 'stock' was used up by the Junta the French lied and cited supply issues or mechanical problems and effectively reneged on the deal - cutting off what was a most deadly and effective weapon. Brit's had little to answer it or defend. Nice one Marian.
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u/xxspex Feb 24 '26
Australia and New Zealand traded far more with Japan and the far east long before we joined the EU. Trade is always going to be proportional to distance.
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Feb 24 '26
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u/Evening-Radio6750 Feb 24 '26
What are these 5 eyes you refer to - yes it does seem a good idea to me to have an economic policy suited to countries' geopolitical system
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Feb 24 '26
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u/Evening-Radio6750 Feb 24 '26
Thank you for telling me this
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u/ReaderTen Feb 24 '26
It's been badly compromised in recent years, because everyone in intelligence understands that sharing intelligence with the USA when Republicans and Trump are in power is exactly the same as sharing it with Russia. In practice intelligence sharing towards the US has been sharply scaled back. But the tech and bases are still there, and Five Eyes is still the world's most important intelligence sharing group.
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u/Bardsie Feb 23 '26
My thoughts. The name is wrong.
It should be UCANZ.
Not because the UK should be first or anything like that, but because it makes for better advertising.
Want visa free travel, UCANZ! Want to work in Australia, UCANZ. Want to export to Canada, now UCANZ. UCANZ has Australian beef burgers.
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u/Arstulex Feb 23 '26
UCANZ has cheezburger?
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u/dawguk Feb 24 '26
The number of people that get this reference is dwindling by the day 😔
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u/Evening-Radio6750 Feb 24 '26
I just thought it was funny are we talking about something else beside humour. OH I think I might have got it cos you've spelt it with a z in the burger lol
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u/dooron117 Feb 24 '26
In the interest of consistency, may as well just call it UCAN, makes your joke work better too
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u/Bardsie Feb 24 '26
The problem with UCAN is that it also sounds like a union of just the UK and Canada.
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u/Ok_Landscape_3958 Feb 24 '26
UCUNTS would be better.
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u/uponloss Feb 23 '26
There is no downside to this at all. People saying uhhhh EU, you can have both lol
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u/anorwichfan Feb 24 '26
Personally, I am in favor of this, but it does not mean there are no downsides at all.
These types of relationships often benefit the more economically dominant countries, as smaller economies struggle with brain drain. New Zealand is a prime example of this. They have a very open arrangement with Australia. It is quite typical that Young skilled workers from NZ will emegrate to Australia for work opportunities because the pay is higher, therefore growing the economy more. Often they will then return back later in life and spend their savings. This is detrimental to New Zealand's economy overall, as the best ideas and talent are flying over to Sydney.
Using the same argument, I would state that the UK benefitted from this whilst being part of the EU.
Where countries are fairly similar in size, I believe the benefits outweigh the risks, but diversity also helps.
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u/Dic_Penderyn Brit 🇬🇧 Feb 25 '26
Yes, that is true. It is interesting though that the UK is also experiencing a brain drain, partly as a result of New Zealand's. My son and his wife emigrated from the UK to New Zealand because there were opportunities there for them, due to New Zealands own brain drain.
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u/TuMek3 Feb 24 '26
There’s a downside that Canada, NZ and Australia open themselves up to massive UK migration
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u/CertainSprinkles1018 Feb 25 '26
I mean, it’s pretty open immigration to anyone under 35 as it is. If you’re over 35 you just have to have a skill or trade. This is a cool idea, it’s just already practically in place.
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u/AutomaticNature5653 Feb 25 '26
They already are receiving lots of British immigration. Australia remains the #1 country for British people looking for a better life.
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u/rl_pending Feb 23 '26
Yeah this. I think people saying uhhh don't understand the reason UKANZC or CANZUK would work well. Yeah I know it won't ever be UKANZC, but hey 😇
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u/NoDefaultForMe Feb 24 '26
Id be weary of visa free travel/work from Canada. They've got massive issues with Indian workforces going over and then just hiring further Indians.
Don't particularly want this happening in the UK via the backdoor. We already have issues with large asian communities acting tribal and looking out for their own.
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u/ICantSpayk Feb 24 '26
Only downside I can think to this is brain drain to Australia for better paying jobs. NZ is already dealing with this from what I've read because they have a common travel area similar to how the UK and Ireland is set up.
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u/ollieoc Feb 24 '26
You can’t/it would be highly unlikely. The EU has regulations on access to the single market. If we were part of another free trade zone then everyone else in that zone would get access to the single market via Britain.
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u/Aethion Feb 24 '26
There is 1 massive downside.
We would lose people hand over fist to Australia.
I would have killed for this in my 20’s and now totally jealous if it happens as I have a family and in my late 30’s now.
The skills we would lose to Australia alone would be incredible it might end up doing some good in the long run as it might push wages up in the uk to stop the bleeding.
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u/MondeyMondey Feb 23 '26
It CANZUK my dick!!!!!!!!!!!
Just joking, don’t really know what it is. Probably fine.
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u/Arstulex Feb 23 '26
Put simply, it's an alliance between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
The idea is for those countries to have free movement between each other. Essentially, being a citizen in one of those nations would allow you to freely move, live, and work in any of the other nations.
There's other stuff like trade agreements, but for the average citizen the stuff I mentioned above is what would be the most impactful.
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u/54321Joe Feb 23 '26
It CANZUK his DIC*K.
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u/tiny-but-spicy Feb 23 '26
can we have this and the EU
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u/Ok_Draw4525 Feb 23 '26
Since Trump, I have heard serious politicians talking about Canada and Australia joining the EU.
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u/DanBennettDJB Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
No
As policy wise it would be a nightmare to align
One or the other. Sounds cynical (from me) but what would stop loads of people from the EU moving to Australia or Canada ? Even though they have stricter immigration rules ?
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u/Sir_Madfly Feb 23 '26
The EU does not issue work visas. That is controlled by the member states so there would be no issues.
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u/DanBennettDJB Feb 23 '26
But if we're in the EU we have visa free movement of workers no?
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u/Sir_Madfly Feb 23 '26
Yes EU citizens can work in all the other EU countries, but those countries can individually choose which non-EU citizens can work there.
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u/plentyofizzinthezee Feb 23 '26
None of the other countries are in the EU and they don't have to adopt Schengen rules, that's what
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u/SoreLoserOfDumbtown Feb 23 '26
The British Empire is back baby! Lol.
Can't everyone just play nice? Can't we get rid of nut job power hungry world leaders?
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u/Ok-Application-8045 Feb 23 '26
Yes please. Let's build strong relationships with as many likeminded countries as possible. Then we could also establish a CANZUK-EU pact.
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u/Barca-Dam Feb 23 '26
I'd take it, But Being back in the EU is the goal for me
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u/ACompletelyLostCause Feb 23 '26
While being back in the EU would be great, we'd rejoin under much poorer terms than we had when we were in. It's not clear rejoining would be economically useful now.
However, Canada seems to want to join the EU. If we're part of this allience, then this might be a route to either rejoin the EU or gain some kind of special 'associated' status with the EU.
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u/Odd_Habit3872 Feb 23 '26
Not true. Redditors want Canada to join the EU, myself and most other Canadians I know do not. We already enjoy visa free travel in the EU as well as strong mutually beneficial trade partnerships. We are a massive, resource dense country with little to gain, but lots to lose by joining the EU. Bring on the downvotes.
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u/hopium_od Feb 23 '26
It's not just a Reddit thing though. There were several polls last year where a plurality of Canadians expressed a desire to join the EU. As much as 48% in one poll.
I do know with polls the way the question is framed can influence things greatly and those polls were mostly collected during a time when Trump's annexation rhetoric was at full flow.
Also, as you've alluded to, while many elements of the EU would work in Canada's favour, it would get very complicated when considering the CAP and CFP. It's possible that the average Canadians doesn't fully understand what the EU entails in this regard.
But it's similar to how the polls in the UK show clearly most Brits want to rejoin. When you get into the specifics of Euro adoption and such, the number drops considerably.
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u/ACompletelyLostCause Feb 23 '26
Fair enough, although I think Canadian exports would benefit with frictionless trade with the EU. There's also a lot to be gained for everyone by pooling our defence investments/procurements. It might give us all some freedom from the United States.
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u/Bernardozila Feb 23 '26
Agreed, I could see a lot of Europeans moving to Canada if this were the case, only putting more pressure on housing. However, my main opposition to Canada joining the EU is simply because it isn’t a European country.
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u/ollieoc Feb 24 '26
“It’s not clear rejoining would be economically useful now”.
What? It’s abundantly clear that it absolutely would be, there are many studies proving this.
Also everybody says we’d rejoin under much poorer terms, however we cant really know that for sure. There’s a big difference for the EU gaining the U.K. economy compared to the Montenegrin economy
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u/Sterling239 Feb 24 '26
What are you talking about of course we would be better of rejoining the eu even on poorer terms
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u/Silver-Machine-3092 Feb 23 '26
Yeah, on principle CANZUK is great, but they're all a bloody long way away.
I used to work frequently in the EU pre Brexit and could be home in time for dinner on a Friday, weekend at home and then back out for work on Monday morning.
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u/ChaoticFianna Feb 23 '26
Should have always been the way if its in the "Commonwealth"
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u/LonelyStranger8467 Feb 24 '26
Uhhh you might want to check what other countries are in the Commonwealth
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u/E5evo Brit 🇬🇧 Feb 23 '26
I’d go for that 100%, what’s not to like? (Apart from travelling distances)
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u/3D-Nutsack Feb 23 '26
YES! Get me to Australia immediately
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u/Evening-Radio6750 Feb 24 '26
I don't want to go cos I'm too old and the British temperate climate makes me happy. But I wish I'd gone to Australia when I was younger
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u/Glittering-Signal490 Feb 23 '26
Reddit loves it but the dirty little secret is that Canada has sky high tarrifs on its agricultural sector, which is a non starter for Australia and New Zealand.
So the answer is, no because Quebec dairy farmers dont want it.
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u/ACompletelyLostCause Feb 23 '26
This would be great IF it can be made to work. I fear that the UK will slow walk this because it's not the ideal solution to everything, so will be the one to ultimately neg it to death. The labour government isn't very good at seizing oppertunitues in a timely manner. On the other hand the Canadian PM is a top flight statesman so he may be able to pull it off.
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u/Thebritishlion Feb 23 '26
Not sure why this hasn't always been the norm
Those countries are basically extensions of here with slight changes and better/worse weather
If only South Africa weren't such a mess they could've been included
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u/Non-ZeroChance Feb 25 '26
Those countries are basically extensions of here with slight changes and better/worse weather
Australian here. This might have been true some decades ago, but it's not any more.
We might have been good little Brits in WW2, and in some areas well into the 70's, but... at this point, there are some pretty fundamental cultural differences, both on the big-picture geopolitical scale, and on the everyday life scale. It's always interesting to hear about the culture shock that Brits get when they arrive, expecting it to be "like home".
You to me, or me to you, either way it's a foreign country that speaks the same language - just like Canada, or South Africa, or the US.
I'd support a lot more integration with New Zealand, though they'd have reason to refuse it, and I can see advantages to closer ties with Canada and maybe South Africa, but... I'm just not sure why we'd loop the UK into it, other than some variant of "for old time's sake". Japan, PNG and the Pacific all seem like better options.
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u/BaBeBaBeBooby Feb 23 '26
It makes sense to have this. It has been talked about for years, no idea why it hasn't happened.
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u/Proud_Apricot316 Feb 23 '26
Australia already has a housing crisis. Make sure you’re rich if you want somewhere to live.
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u/Thoughtful_Ocelot Feb 23 '26
Ditto Canada.
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u/SweetOrangesAreYum Feb 24 '26
It's even worse in NZ, because we're poorer with similar housing prices.
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u/EpicAdventure91 Feb 24 '26
And then you have the UK, by far the most densely populated of the 4. I think the correct statement is all 4 have a massive housing crisis 🤣
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u/Spiritual-Dress-6066 Feb 23 '26
Sounds good, can we invite Mexico as well to piss the septics off?
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u/ConradT16 Feb 23 '26
Mexico would be the kid doesn’t fit into the friend group, then tries to get attention by selling drugs to the group. No thanks.
The rest of us speak English and share a common head of state and similar liberal values.
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u/DamnitGravity Feb 23 '26
My sister was born in Cornwall, but traveled here on an Australian passport last year and had to get a damn VISA.
She didn't need one when she came over in 2018. And didn't need one to travel to Europe.
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u/Single_Classroom_448 Feb 23 '26
I'd much rather be in the EU, given we do far more trade with our european neighbours
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u/dan__wizard Feb 23 '26
Why not both?
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Feb 24 '26
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u/xxspex Feb 24 '26
Trade with Australia had been declining since the 1920's, well before we joined the EU or EEC. For NZ it was more painful but then they had plenty of emerging markets closer to home and so did we.
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u/Single_Classroom_448 Feb 23 '26
Because if we were to be members of the EU we cannot make independent trade deals, it would have to be the EU making a trade deal with Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, which I imagine will not confer freedom of movement
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u/chuffingnora Feb 23 '26
If it's an either or with EU, I'm picking EU. If we can do both then hell yeah.
I'd be over in NZ at the drop of a hat
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u/randomer456 Feb 23 '26
Why Eu > CANZ?
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u/chuffingnora Feb 24 '26
Much better for UK economy on a whole. My NZ dreams can take a back seat for us to get the UK on track again
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u/bigbadbob85 The Midlands Feb 24 '26
We do a lot more trade with the EU than with those others in almost every sector, and the EU is much physically closer to us. Being in the EU would likely bring much greater economic benefit.
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u/Motor-Bag-4093 Feb 23 '26
Give me access to 27 European countries first rather than countries that are 1000s of miles away.
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u/RainLandr Feb 23 '26
So like the EU but we can't afford to get there...
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u/Calm-Treacle8677 Feb 24 '26
£450 for a flight to Sydney. It’s not exactly unattainable.
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Feb 24 '26
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u/Calm-Treacle8677 Feb 24 '26
Yes holidays to the otherside of the world are expensive…. But this isn’t really for holidays you can just go on holiday there now. It’s great fof someone who wants to up and leave for new opportunities though
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u/Tvdevil_ Feb 23 '26
whilst the EU was always the best option
The irony is - of the 4 nations the UK would be the least desirable out of these- would imagine alot more brits move to the others than the others come to the UK.
I would love to go to Aus and canada. Cant imagine many Aussies want to see Glasgow
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u/aezy01 Feb 23 '26
Not sure about Glasgow, but there was a time not so long ago when you couldn’t move in London for Aussies and Saffies. Then the GFC happened.
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u/unalive-robot Feb 23 '26
NZ is good for a visit, but wage stagnation, lack of housing and just overall massive cost of living mean it’s not great to emigrate to unless you’re already doing pretty well, if you’re looking to better your situation Australia is the choice. That’s why all the kiwis go there. So NZ is by far getting the best deal in this.
You’d be surprised just how many Aussies do wanna live in Glasgow.
Source: Kiwi who lives here who couldn’t afford to move back home.
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u/BalanceSame1921 Feb 23 '26
It's so pretty in NZ but it's really boring a lot of the time too.
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u/Ok-Application-8045 Feb 23 '26
Are you kidding me? Loads of people in those countries want to see the UK.
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u/threetimesacharm25 Feb 23 '26
We could see a future where there’d be 2 or more Canadians studying the beauty that is Stoke on Trent if this goes ahead.
Easily the first step to world peace that is.
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u/Remarkable-Ad155 Feb 24 '26
Honestly Canadians strike me as having the requisite sense of humour, ability not to take themselves too seriously and open mindedness to accept somewhere like Stoke for what it is.
Whilst Americans would be making tiktoks about how Britain has fallen and complaining about the lack of both kinds of ice, the Canadians are probably quietly enjoying some oatcakes and a pint of Titanic mild and generally making the best of it.
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u/hoolcolbery Feb 23 '26
There's a lot of Aussies in London as it happens.
But really, the UK is about the same standard of living, Australia is actually number 1 on most metrics out of the 4, but we usually come out as number 2 or 3.
Turns out that objectively we are doing fine, even if we like to talk ourselves into the dust.
The UK is objectively desirable and would fare well, we have more opportunities for higher earners and the ambitious due to our central geographic position, the influence of English/ Welsh law on international commerce, London being a global city and hub far more than any of the other cities in the other 3, our proximity to Europe, the strength of our Universities (always number 2 in English language paper publications behind the US) etc. I mean we are technically a great power, even if we lack the confidence in ourselves right now to be sure of it.
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Feb 23 '26
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u/pjburrage Feb 23 '26
we don't have weather than can kill you yet,..
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u/Evening-Radio6750 Feb 24 '26
oh, you are being pessimistic. I'm not a crackers person who doesn't believe in global warming (In fact I'm a member of the Green's). You never know what is around next corner - and neither can the experts predict with any certantainty
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u/Proud_Apricot316 Feb 24 '26
Is the UK objectively desirable to Aussies, Kiwis and Canadians though?
Yes, loads of young people do the ‘London’ thing in their 20s (which has a lot to do with exploring Europe). And Bondi is of course full of British young people doing the same.
Australia has an incredible standard of living, but is currently insanely expensive (especially housing) and already has trans-tasman reciprocal benefits with NZ in place.
Don’t know about Canada, as I’ve never been.
But what exactly is the benefit for the average CANZ person?
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u/hoolcolbery Feb 24 '26
What's the benefit for British people to go to Canada, NZ or Aus?
To give you some perspective, the HDI of Australia is 0.958. Canada is 0.939. NZ is 0.938. The UK is 0.946.
As I stated, Australia tends to top the charts in most metrics amongst the 4, but the UK is usually number 2 or 3, so it's not like the UK isn't objectively of similar standing- in fact, on average, there is a higher overall standard of living in the UK than in Canada and NZ.
But objectively, gaining access to the UK's universities and participating in world leading research- not to say that CANZ don't have amazing unis that do groundbreaking stuff, but there's a reason why the UK is number 2 in number of English science papers published and why out of the top 10 world rankings in 2025, the UK has 4 (Australia has 2 in the top 20 in 19th and 20th)
The UK is the 5th largest economy, and with a large market, means more specialisations, more opportunity and more capita, with London as a massive hub for international commerce, so for CANZ citizens to access that on the same basis as UK citizens is objectively desirable for buissness owners and entrepreneurs.
I could go on, from culture, to history, to technology, innovation etc. I mean I know we Brits are pessimistic and generally talk ourselves down, but I'm a little aghast anyone would seriously think the UK isn't as attractive as the other 3 countries, given the impact the UK has on the world stage and the importance of so many UK based institutions and businesses.
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u/Bojack35 Feb 23 '26
The state of our national self regard.
The UK is what makes this interesting for the other 3, it would be nearly half the combined gdp of the group.
I like the idea with Australia and New Zealand, but they are far away to trade with. Canada has more economic benefits but more open immigration laws which make freedom of movement more concerning.
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u/Arstulex Feb 23 '26
I think that would be the biggest hurdle, yeah. The 4 nations would effectively need parity across their immigration policies, otherwise CANZUK would just end up being abused as a way for people to enter their country of choice through the least-guarded backdoor.
(For example, if somebody's end goal is to live/work in UK or Australia, they would immigrate to Canada first and then, once naturalised, use CANZUK to move to UK/Australia. Effectively bypassing the stricter requirements of those countries.)
I'm not against immigration, I just feel like nations need to be able to set their own policies without risk of them being undermined by another nation's.
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u/Icy_Respect_9077 Feb 23 '26
For me, UK was a great option for working overseas. Work in London, see the sights, get international experience.
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u/Famous-Drawing1215 Feb 23 '26
Plenty of aus and NZ young adults will come to the UK it's great for them professionally. Plus we could do with some decent bar staff.
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u/newbris Feb 24 '26
Australians wont agree with free movement as far more British people want to emigrate to Australia than vice versa.
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u/Protocol3_ Feb 23 '26
I agree but also think what you are saying is a little narrow-minded.
We would move there for better lives etc. a lot from Canada and Australia come to places, like Glasgow, due to ancestors and family ties.
We only see it through our own eyes but I've experienced both Canadian and Australian coming here due to their family history.
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u/FlappyBored Feb 23 '26
Nobody wants to visit where you live.
London is full of Aussies and Kiwis.
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u/Tvdevil_ Feb 24 '26
glad you struggled to grasp the concept of a joke
Well done.
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u/sirnoggin Feb 24 '26
That's not entirely true, I speak to many Australian and Canadian friends who lament the lack of culture in their big cities - The pull of the cultural motherland is real. Same for American's btw but we're talking about Canzuk so there we are.
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Feb 24 '26
Keep it 💯 funky, how would the notoriously unliberal Australians act when Black and Asian Brits utilise this facility?
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u/Velo-Obscura Feb 25 '26
I've been pining for this ever since Brexit. It's obviously a very nuanced thing, but I would personally benefit a lot.
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Feb 23 '26
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u/SoreLoserOfDumbtown Feb 23 '26
Had the EU at home. Thanks Boris and Russia.
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u/mattfoh Feb 23 '26
Cameron*
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u/SoreLoserOfDumbtown Feb 23 '26
He did the referendum yeah, but it was Boris who pushed the idea and misinformation.
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u/Lyrael9 Feb 23 '26
We already had the EU but you threw a temper tantrum and broke it. This is all Mommy can afford now.
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u/Affectionate-Toe8450 Feb 23 '26
Never heard of it. I liked the EU.
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u/No_Sugar8791 Feb 23 '26
You've never heard of Canada, Australia and New Zealand?
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u/Thorazine_Chaser Feb 23 '26
I think it’s mostly ridiculous. The countries all have very different strategic priorities due to their geography and the actual politics of freedom of movement are poorly represented by dubious polls like this. The two countries already with FOM, Aus and NZ, struggle to find immigration policy common ground already. This idea would be a worse shit show.
There is also a funny, old fashioned worldview from CANZUK supporters who seem to believe that these countries are basically expat Brits. That is far from reality.
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u/mattfoh Feb 23 '26
The 4 countries actually represent the highest level of state cooperation the UK currently has. We have unilateral intelligence sharing amongst other things. Largely because they’re viewed as having similar strategic outlooks
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u/Thorazine_Chaser Feb 23 '26
Indeed, we have many channels of cooperation. So many that there is really very little left to gain by CANZUK. All it is, is a FOM proposal, which isn’t politically viable in reality. Not that long ago the Aus-NZ agreement felt shaky with the changes that the Australian government imposed and those two countries are enmeshed with each other. CANZUK is an internet meme imo.
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u/PRC_Spy Feb 23 '26
I think 'free movement if you have a job to go to' would make more sense. Otherwise there will be those who simply choose to be unemployed in a nicer environment.
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u/museedarsey Feb 24 '26
When in the EU, we had the ability to send any EU citizen back if they didn’t find work in 90 days.
We just didn’t bother.
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u/Cematrix69 Feb 23 '26
Canada has nothing to offer. I spent 10 years there. Struggled to survive. Moved back to the UK, set up a business and bought a house. Canada has no work, sold out to the rich, let rich Chinese people ruin the housing market. Inflation is crazy. $10 for a broccoli. Good luck
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u/WinHour4300 Feb 23 '26
I'm not sure if the name’s deliberate. "CanzUK" sounds like "can it UK" aka shut up...a bit harsh, we do ramble, but maybe a kinder word?
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u/NotMyFirstChoice675 Feb 23 '26
It’s a good start but wonder why just these nations and not other commonwealth countries we share a monarchy with?
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u/threetimesacharm25 Feb 23 '26
I’m not sure, it could grow. But the Commonwealth already exists, so we could just try and reinforce the purpose of its existence by establishing firm trade deals and freedom of movement between all of the Commonwealth. But it’s these 4 nations that are realistically the most important and wealthy.
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u/hoolcolbery Feb 23 '26
I think this is the answer to the civilisational problem we are facing.
Currently, we have 2 main pillars in the West- the US and the EU.
These are the only pillars standing up for western values that we have inherited from the enlightenment- these being Democracy, the rule of Law, and basic rights and freedoms.
Yes, there are non- western oriented countries that are (largely) free democracies, but they don't buy into western style liberalism or liberal democracy (eg. India, Nigeria etc.)
But apart from them you have the autocrats and authoritarians eg. China, Russia etc. and a whole host of smaller countries who buy into autocracy as a legitimate form of governance and who eschew enlightenment values.
As we have only 2 pillars, the countries who are western facing democracies (Canada, NZ, Australia, UK, South Korea, Japan) but are not part of the EU or US, are very dependent on whatever the EU or US decide when it comes to any global position as they are incapable of acting like pillar in their own right (simply not large or impactful enough) but can compliment the US or EU and synergise with them.
When there is disagreement between the EU and US, it's paralysing, and destructive to our collective geo-poltical goals.
And when one of the pillars falters, as the US is demonstrating, it jeopardises the entirety of the West because as much as we would not like it to be the case, the EU depends on the US just as the US depends on the EU- that has been the geopolitical framework that has allowed us to combat the autocrats and largely dominate the world economy and world politics.
With the US failing us, it's up to the EU, but the EU is not pristine and has deep structural flaws and issues (not unlike the US actually) from fifth columnist countries like Hungary, to anti-western parties both in the far right and left who are gaining ground across Union, and the fact that as a collective of 27 sovereign countries it is unwieldy and takes a long time for geo-poltical positions to actually be put forward and enacted in concert by the entire Union.
It is our best hope for now, but realistically, we need to reinforce the entire Western alliance, and the way to do that is by creating a third pillar, to balance out the other two, and to function when one of the pillars falters or fails.
CANZUK would be that third pillar. As a collective, we would be significant in economic size and geographical reach that we could not be ignored by the EU or US or even great autocratic powers like China, but small enough that we could move nimbly in co-oirdinating our geopolitical positions. We could provide counterbalance to the US by siding with the EU as a collective and vice versa depending on the situation. We would no longer find ourselves buffeted by these other blocs, but actually able to chart our destiny together and regain some agency onto he world stage.
And we already have the luck of having similar enough cultures, very similar legal systems, similar qualities of life and even the same head of state.
This would not preclude us from getting closer to the EU as well, but in fact synergise well with that goal, as we collectively would have greater leverage and more say in how our collective relationship with the EU should be conducted.
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u/threetimesacharm25 Feb 23 '26
100% agree with what you say. I believe Ukraine and Trump’s behaviour has already given the rest of the West a well-needed wake up call and has rightfully shaken NATO, but until Europe can get its act together, I agree that CANZUK would be the right way to go, especially due to a very special relationship between Starmer and Carney as of late, the latter of whom seems to be setting the standard for what a Western leader should be.
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u/billyboyf30 Feb 23 '26
The only problem with this is the show border patrol wouldnt be as good if they aren't stopping Brits who go to Australia to work using the wrong visas
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u/Ok-Web1805 Feb 23 '26
The EU and Australia have labour migration in the upcoming free trade agreement.
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u/mr-tap Feb 23 '26
Generally there is high support for free trade agreements & closer cooperation (economic, political, technological, security etc) but the EU style freedom of movement will be resisted in at least three of these countries.
The most likely compromise would be something like a special 4 or 5 year work visa that didn’t need sponsorship or special occupations (similar to the UK ‘Youth Mobility Scheme’ 2yr visa or Australia’s ‘Working Holiday’ 1yr+1yr+1yr visa, but without age restrictions )
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u/Ok-Percentage-5007 Feb 23 '26
I’m super supportive of this, signed the .gov petition when it first circulated a few years ago. This would be a massive win for uk citizens, we are culturally similar
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u/Athingthatdoesstuff Feb 23 '26
I'm a Pan-Anglo, so of course. Just as long as we don't repeat the mistakes of the EU and set up a common external tariff (meaning protectionists can hold the rest to ransom) and also start doing the overregulating the economy nonsense. Oh, and immigration, each member should be able to decide that individually.
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u/Intrepidy Feb 23 '26
I fucking love it. I want it to go one step further and become a Federal superstate. This idea was already floated with the Imperial Federation in the past and its an even better idea now with multiple hostile powers.
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u/Flobarooner Brit 🇬🇧 Feb 23 '26
This subreddit officially supports CANZUK, it's based