Actually, you are right and I’m mostly wrong. The Maastricht Treaty just says:

Any European State which respects the principles set out in Article 6(1) may apply to become a member of the Union. It shall address its application to the Council, which shall act unanimously after consulting the Commission and after receiving the assent of the European Parliament, which shall act by an absolute majority of its component members.

So, what is a “European State” is effectively just a political decision by the Council and Parliament. I guess if Cyprus and Armenia were considered “European States” then Canada is not that big of a stretch.

Additionally, the next paragraph is

The conditions of admission and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the Union is founded, which such admission entails, shall be the subject of an agreement between the Member States and the applicant State. This agreement shall be submitted for ratification by all the contracting States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

Soo I guess even the Maastricht treaty allows itself to be modified, maybe removing the “European” criteria completely.

So it’s not as difficult as I first imagined, it’s just a question of political will from Canada and the EU institutions.