The new revenue-sharing model over the Gordie Howe International Bridge will see Canada repay its debt, but only after net revenue is split with the United States over the first 15 years, a senior government source confirmed to the Star.
The statement came after days of confusion and ambiguity caused by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s remarks after he announced that Canada had reached a deal with the U.S. to open the Gordie Howe Bridge on July 27.
The money the Canadian government is sharing with the U.S. represents the “net revenue” generated by bridge activity after operating costs have been paid, said the federal source, who is not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
Half of that net revenue will be directed to a local economic development fund supporting the corridor and the surrounding community on the U.S. side, while Canada will retain the remaining half.
Canada’s portion will include funds that will be used to repay the $6.4 billion the federal government spent solely to build the bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit.
The newly disclosed information appears to contradict comments made by Carney during a CTV interview on July 10, when he suggested that the Canada-U.S. profit split would occur after debt-service costs for Canada had been covered.
“We are sharing after Canada is paid back,” Carney said. “We get the revenues. Then the servicing of the costs of the bridge and paying the debt of the bridge, and then what’s left over, there’s a split of that for 15 years.”
The senior government source told the Star that the new 15-year deal is a parallel agreement alongside the original 2012 government agreement with Michigan, which “stays unchanged.”
The original agreement states that Canada will share toll revenues with the state of Michigan only after the federal government has recovered its construction costs.
“More precision would have been helpful” in referring to the original agreement and the parallel agreement, the government source said when the Star asked about the discrepancy in Carney’s remarks.
On Friday, conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Carney of spreading contradictory statements on X and asked the prime minister to release the deal so “Canadians can see for themselves what you negotiated away to the Americans.”
Bloomberg first reported last week that it has seen a copy of the pact, which makes no mention of Canada’s interest expenses or debt payments related to the bridge.
The senior government source confirmed Bloomberg’s reporting, but declined to show the Star the agreement.
Tyler Meredith, former senior economic advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, told the Star that he doesn’t believe the new agreement is a bad deal for Canada given the original one still stands to govern the bridge over its full life.
But he said Canada should make the agreement public, as it has been shown to some journalists.
“Canada will still get its money back … It may just make a profit that takes slightly longer to pay off than would have been the case previously,” he said.
Roy Norton, former Canadian consul general to Michigan, told the Star that he believes Canada has already begun paying the bridge’s operating costs, even though it has not yet opened. As a result, he said it is in the country’s best interest to begin collecting toll revenue as soon as possible.
Norton, a Canadian appointee to the International Authority for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, said payments for operating costs to Bridging North America — the private-sector partner responsible for building, operating and maintaining the bridge — begin once the bridge “has been substantially completed.”
“We should be happy too, in the sense that the alternative — the bridge remaining closed — was far worse for us than this deal,” he said.
Daniel Tisch, president of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, said he agreed that Canada’s immediate priority should be opening the bridge, while its longer-term goal is to recover its investment.
“Both will be achieved,” he said. “Given the disgraceful actions of the Trump administration, Canadians will support our government as long as it’s transparent about the deal and the trade-offs.”
