Canada has cancelled a planned joint ceremony with the United States for the new Gordie Howe International Bridge and will instead hold a Canada-only celebration on the Friday before the bridge opens. The bridge connects Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, and is set to open on Monday, July 27, 2026, according to Infrastructure Canada. It is meant to be a faster alternative to the existing Ambassador Bridge across the Detroit River.

The cancelled joint celebration was originally scheduled for July 24, 2026, the Detroit News reported. Canada's decision to go ahead without American officials follows a disagreement over how toll money from the bridge will be shared, as well as President Donald Trump's threat of 50-per-cent tariffs on Canada. Trump had previously threatened to block the bridge from opening at all, and the opening was delayed by a dispute between the two countries, according to The Associated Press and Reuters.

The disagreement is about money. The bridge cost US$4.7 billion to build, and Canada paid for all of it. According to a draft agreement released the Wednesday before the opening, Canada will share net toll revenues with the U.S. for the first 15 years. But the document does not explicitly say Canada gets paid back for its investment first, the Globe and Mail reported.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that an earlier deal between Canada and the state of Michigan still stands, and that toll revenues will not be shared until all the debt is repaid. However, the draft terms released to the public do not contain a clear guarantee that Canada is compensated first. That difference between what Carney says and what the written agreement shows has not been resolved in the public record.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said President Trump had "renegotiated an incredible deal for America on the Gordie Howe Bridge" but did not say when the U.S. expects to start receiving toll money. Without a timeline from the White House, it is unclear when Washington believes the revenue-sharing would begin.

The Infrastructure Canada news release, titled "The Gordie Howe International Bridge will open on July 27th, strengthening trade, connectivity, and economic development," confirms that the bridge will open to traffic on schedule. The Monday opening follows the Friday Canada-only celebration.

The broader context here is about more than a ceremony. Canada paid the entire construction cost of a bridge designed to ease congestion at the busiest commercial land border in North America. The decision to celebrate without the Americans reflects a breakdown in the kind of co-operation that would normally accompany a project this large.

To understand the money dispute, think of it this way: imagine you paid for an entire house, and then agreed to split the rental income with a neighbour. The basic question is whether you get your money back first, before any splitting starts. That question should be answered clearly in writing. Right now, the public documents do not clearly show how Canada recoups its US$4.7-billion investment before U.S. revenue-sharing begins.

Trump's tariff threat is a separate issue from the toll dispute, but both have landed on the bridge opening at the same time. Together, they have turned a finished construction project into a test of the Canada-U.S. relationship. The bridge will open. How its revenues are shared, and on what terms, remains contested.