OTTAWA – The proposed agreement in principle for the Gordie Howe International Bridge confirms that Canada will share half of net toll revenues with the U.S. for the first 15 years.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that Canada and the U.S. would share net revenues from the Gordie Howe International Bridge after operational costs for 15 years, but the two countries would only split the bridge’s toll revenue after “all of the debt is repaid.”
“It’s a good deal for both sides, it gets things moving,” said the prime minister.
Details of the deal, shared on the Gordie Howe International Bridge website, don’t mention debt repayment.
The document says Canada’s payments will be made to a United States-Canada Economic Development Fund controlled by the U.S. government.
The federal government said Tuesday that in light of U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats, Canada will not be celebrating the opening of the bridge with the United States.
Trump threatened Monday to hit an array of Canadian products with 50 per cent tariffs in 30 days. American officials said the new levies are a response to provincial bans on U.S. alcohol, Canada’s supply-managed dairy system and quotas on American cars.
Carney said he spoke with Trump on Tuesday morning and they agreed to intensify trade negotiations.
A Canada-only bridge opening event is expected to take place Friday and the bridge is still set to open Monday.
Conservative MP Shuvaloy Majumdar told a news conference in Hamilton, Ont., Wednesday that the prime minister “caved” and his government “lied.”
“We’ve seen the admission that this has not been the deal that was promised,” he said. “This is now in the string of one-and-a-half years of concession after concession that the prime minister has made … The prime minister has made Canada vulnerable to ad hoc negotiations by an aggressive United States administration.”
Speaking to reporters, Majumdar said that while Carney has the Conservatives’ sympathy when it comes to dealing with a tough and unpredictable negotiator in the United States, he shouldn’t be obscuring the facts on the Gordie Howe Bridge.
“He’s a very smart man who has a background in finance and banking. It’s hard for me to believe that him and his finance minister did not know what they were saying at the time, hoping that scrutiny would erode and that ultimately they’d be able to escape the day,” he said.
“Accountability has been won for Canadians today by learning more about the bridge, but it’s not a win for Canadians on the terms that should have been made.”
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office said in an email Wednesday that “this is a good deal for businesses and workers in the region.” The spokesperson said it will mean faster border crossings, stronger supply chains, more trade and a more affordable option for commuters and businesses.
“As the prime minister said, we expect net revenue to be low in the early years as traffic ramps up, with the right incentives to get to profitability,” said the spokesperson. “The more traffic we see, the more toll revenues will be collected, resulting in higher net revenues to be invested in economic development — ultimately driving more trade and more traffic.”
NDP MP Heather McPherson said in an email that the bridge is critical public infrastructure and Canadians “deserve to know exactly what is happening with it.”
“Mark Carney could have prevented much of this confusion if his government had simply been transparent and clear with Canadians from the beginning,” she said. “Instead, Canadians were given vague and opaque answers by their own government and, at times, had to turn to American media to get basic information about an agreement between our two countries.
“Canadians should never be misled or left in the dark about a project this important — especially one built with our public money. The government owes Canadians straight answers, full transparency and accountability.”
The new bridge connecting Ontario and Michigan is named after legendary Canadian hockey player Gordie Howe, who led the Detroit Red Wings to four Stanley Cup victories.
The bridge has come to symbolize the fractious relationship between Canada and the United States since Trump’s return to the White House.
Its opening was delayed previously after the Trump administration sought to renegotiate the bridge deal following pushback from the billionaire Moroun family, which owns the competing Ambassador Bridge and is a significant Republican donor.
A ribbon-cutting event had been scheduled for June 12 to officially open the $6.4-billion bridge, but a White House source told The Canadian Press that U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick intervened. In the weeks that followed, Lutnick and U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra led negotiations on the new deal.
The 15-year agreement to open the bridge is separate from the deal Ottawa signed in 2012, which saw Canada shoulder the costs of construction. The original deal, signed with former Republican Michigan governor Rick Snyder, remains in place.
The bridge’s ownership is shared between Michigan and the Government of Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2026.
— With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone
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