Gordie Howe International Bridge set to open 'soon,' source says

The countries have reached a deal to open the bridge, a source with direct knowledge of the deal has confirmed

An agreement to open the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Canada and the U.S. was finalized yesterday, and the bridge will open "soon," according to a source with knowledge of the deal.

The source, who spoke on the condition they were not named due to the sensitive nature of the talks, did not share specifics of the deal but cautioned that some reports were oversimplifying the agreement.

News of a deal was reported by The Associated Press and others on Friday.

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Dominic Leblanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, and Canada's ambassador to the U.S., Mark Wiseman, have been dealing with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra for a few weeks, since Lutnick called Leblanc to say the bridge would not open on the Tuesday before the previously scheduled opening of Friday, June 12.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said on June 11 that the bridge opening was delayed at the request of the United States and that Canada had "agreed to delay the opening and take the necessary time to resolve outstanding issues."

In February, U.S. President Donald Trump demanded in a social media post that Canada hand over at least half ownership of the new bridge to the U.S. government and accept other unspecified demands, part of his broader clashes with Canada over trade.

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Canada financed construction of the 2.4-kilometre-long bridge, which spans the Detroit River. The project was negotiated by Rick Snyder, the former Republican governor of Michigan, and work has been underway since 2018.

Named after the late Canadian hockey great Gordie Howe, who spent 25 seasons leading the Detroit Red Wings, the bridge is expected to be another vital economic artery between Canada and the United States.

The toll bridge, jointly owned by Canada and Michigan, is expected to help ease congestion at the existing Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

Detroit and Windsor have been neighborly for generations, with residents in both countries frequently crossing the shared river border for entertainment and shopping. Like Detroit, the Canadian city's economy has a strong focus on manufacturing and the auto industry.

Commercial trade between the two cities primarily has been across the nearly century-old and privately-owned Ambassador Bridge, which is closer to downtown Detroit than the Gordie Howe Bridge.

David Cochrane is host of Power & Politics, Canada's premier daily political show, airing 5 to 7 p.m. ET weekdays on CBC News Network. David joined the parliamentary bureau as a senior reporter in 2016. Since then, he has reported from 11 countries across four continents. David played a leading role in CBC's 2019 and 2021 federal election coverage. Before Ottawa, David spent nearly two decades covering politics in his beloved Newfoundland and Labrador, where he hosted the RTDNA award winning political show On Point with David Cochrane.

With files from the Associated Press