Text of Gordie Howe Bridge deal with U.S. contradicts Carney's initial description

OTTAWA – The new revenue-sharing deal between Canada and the United States for the Gordie Howe International Bridge was released Tuesday evening after criticism over lack of transparency and conflicting messaging from the prime minister.

The full text, released by the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA), contradicts statements made last week by the prime minister about the terms of the arrangement.

According to the agreement, Canada will give the U.S. 50 per cent of net revenues for the first 15 years, after recovering operating costs. The U.S. share will go into a United States-Canada Economic Development Fund, which will be controlled by the U.S. government.

The details come 10 days after the federal government announced the agreement . Missing from the document released on Tuesday is any reference to Canada recouping debt-servicing costs, which had been an issue of conflicting comments from Canadian and American officials.

Prime Minister Mark Carney had originally told CTV News two days after the deal’s announcement that the split in net revenue with the U.S. would come after accounting for debt-servicing costs on Canada’s financing for the bridge .

Canada fully financed the construction of the bridge that connects Windsor, Ont., to Detroit, at a cost of $6.4 billion.

But soon after, Bloomberg News reported that a U.S. official contradicted those terms, saying that interest costs will not be included in the calculation.

The prime minister then made no reference to debt-servicing costs in his comments last Thursday, when he was asked about the details of the deal. Carney also said he expects net revenues for the first couple of years to be “modest” and even “negative.”

On Saturday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick boasted on social media that the deal would give the U.S. half of net revenues until 2041, and “ Our share is before interest and principal.”

The agreement also confirmed Lutnick’s comments that the U.S. gets a “ say in setting the tolls,” specifying that Canada must direct the WDBA to inform and get consent from the U.S. government if toll rate increases exceed 10 per cent in a single fiscal year or if toll rates decrease “below the average of comparable regional crossings.”

The bridge began construction in 2018 to address the congestion on the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, which handles just over a quarter of all Canada-U.S. trade.

An agreement that was struck with Michigan in 2012 originally stipulated that Canada was to receive all the toll revenue until it could recover its financing costs, including interest, after which revenues would be shared. Michigan and Canada are joint owners of the bridge.

In June, U.S. President Donald Trump blocked the opening of the bridge, on the basis that the original deal was unfair to the U.S. The Windsor mayor, among many others, had said the obstruction came as a result of lobbying efforts by the Maroun family , owners of the Ambassador Bridge, which stands to lose toll revenue to a competing trade route.

In a post on X, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre blasted Carney’s original explanations of the deal’s terms .

“This is a straightforward sharing of profits on a bridge that was built 100 per cent with our tax dollars,” he said, on Wednesday. “This is the exact opposite of what you said.”

“After such a contradiction, how can Canadians trust you on anything related to your dealings with the United States?”

Despite the U.S. and Canada reaching a deal on the Gordie Howe crossing, relations between the two countries remain tense, after Trump announced on Monday a 50 per cent tariff on several Canadian goods, set to take effect Aug. 19.

A day later, the Canadian government announced a decision to cancel a joint cross-border celebration of the bridge opening on Friday.

“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,” said Jenna Ghassabeh, director of communications for the minister of housing and infrastructure, in a statement on Tuesday.

The bridge is scheduled to open to traffic on Monday, July 27.

National Post, with files from Catherine Lévesque

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.