‘Game-changer’: Canada marks Gordie Howe bridge opening amid trade tensions
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is visiting a national park in Newfoundland and Labrador to highlight the Canada Strong Pass, will be skipping the event.
After months of delays and uncertainty caused by opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian officials marked the opening ceremony of the Gordie Howe International Bridge in Windsor, Ont., on Friday.
The opening ceremony of the bridge, which will provide a second road link connecting Michigan and Ontario, came as the Canada-U.S. trade war intensified with Trump’s threat of fresh 50 per cent tariffs on Canada.
The Gordie Howe bridge is scheduled to open to traffic on Monday.
Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson represented the federal government at the ceremony.
Robertson was joined by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkins.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is visiting a national park in Newfoundland and Labrador to highlight the Canada Strong Pass, skipped the event.
Why is the bridge named after Gordie Howe?
The bridge is named after Canadian hockey icon Gordie Howe, who played much of his professional career with the Detroit Red Wings. Howe’s family was also in attendance at the ceremony.
The massive infrastructure project was “more than just a bridge,” Robertson said.
“This bridge is a testament of what we can build when we work together,” he said.
“The communities of Windsor and Detroit in past decades have carried the weight of one of the busiest trade corridors in the world. And these communities managed trucks moving through their neighbourhood streets, delays disrupting the supply chains and families, workers crossing the bridge, spent valuable time stuck in traffic,” he added.
Robertson said both Canadian and American steel was used in the making of the bridge.
“It’s striking cable-stayed design, its soaring towers (are) inspired by the curve of Gordie Howe’s hockey stick, the dedicated multi-use path making it not only an engineering achievement, but a landmark for both of our countries,” he said.
Robertson lauded Howe’s legacy of “bringing Canadians and Americans together.”
“This bridge is a game-changer, just like Gordie Howe was in his day,” he said.
The Gordie Howe Bridge was “an incredible symbol of the potential and opportunities that await workers and families on both sides of the Detroit River,” Ford said.
“I know Canadians love Americans and I know Americans love Canadians and that bond will last for another over 200 years,” he said.
Ford also addressed Trump’s new threat of 50 per cent tariffs on Canada.
“Ontario will be ready to respond to any new American tariffs will not back down and will negotiate from a position of strength,” he said.
“Both Canadians and Americans are better off when we work together instead of standing apart,” he added.
The bridge has “the power to truly shape the future,” Dilkins said.
“This bridge has risen up against ever-shifting backdrops of uncertainty amidst a global pandemic that made crossing the border impossible, against a trade war that has amplified all that this bridge stands for,” he said.
Originally, U.S. officials were set to attend the opening ceremony, but on Tuesday, the federal government said Canadian officials would no longer be celebrating the opening with American representatives.
This came after Trump announced sweeping, steep 50 per cent tariffs on Canada.
“In light of trade action threatened by the United States earlier this week, it would be inappropriate to proceed with a celebratory event between the two countries,” a spokesperson for Robertson’s office said in an emailed statement.
Why was the bridge delayed?
In February, Trump threatened to block the opening of the bridge.
“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve. We will start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on social media.
Canada paid for the construction of the bridge entirely, but it is jointly owned by Canada and Michigan.
On July 10, after months of negotiations, Robertson and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that the bridge would be opening on July 27, following a new revenue-sharing agreement.
What’s the new agreement?
The federal government on Tuesday released the text of what it called an agreement in principle with the United States for the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which outlines how revenues could be collected — and shared — for a project entirely financed by Canadian taxpayers.
Portions of it appear to contradict what Carney has said about how money will be split and how much the U.S. will get before Canadians are repaid for the debt of the bridge.
Carney said last week that Canada will not share any tolls collected from the bridge until Canada’s $6.4-billion debt from building it is repaid, but he also said that “net revenues” will be split over 15 years.
“Splitting of tolls, any sharing of the toll, won’t happen until all of the debt is repaid,” Carney told reporters on July 16.
However, the text of the agreement in principle states that Canada will make payments to the U.S. totalling 50 per cent of “net bridge and crossing related revenues” for 15 years and doesn’t clearly define what counts as operating costs or make mention of Canada’s debt.
But Canada sharing any portion of the bridge’s revenues, including from tolls, means it may take longer for Canada to make back the money paid to build the bridge in the first place.
–with files from Global’s Ari Rabinovitch
This story was originally published by Global News on July 24, 2026. CityAM Canada is republishing it for our Canadian readers.