With few opportunities to find a home for their ideas in Canada, early-career researchers are struggling and often looking abroad. Pre-tenure competitive funding is needed to reward early-career research excellence and boost Canada’s capacity to attract and retain top talent. Canada recently became an associate member of Horizon Europe, the European Union’s (EU) key funding programme for research and innovation, joining 20 other non-EU associated countries. Although promising, this move does not go far enough as Canada only joined the industrially-focused partnerships of Horizon’s Pillar II, and cannot benefit from the full range of opportunities offered under Horizon Europe. Canada should join countries like Israel, Norway, and the UK who benefit from being associated to the entire programme. Crucially, these countries can act as hosts for Starting Grants. Starting Grants provide early-career researchers with up to € 1.5 million to establish a research group in the EU and associated countries. Canadians can already apply for and hold these grants abroad, but with full Horizon Europe participation they can be held in Canada. This will help boost the retention of emerging Canadian researchers, provide Canadians abroad with a home for their talents in Canada, and draw top international researchers to Canada.