Gordie Howe International Bridge: Canada’s Newest $5.7B Crossing — Windsor to Detroit Facts

Gordie Howe International Bridge: Canada’s Newest & Most Expensive Bridge

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is Canada’s newest major bridge, opening in 2025 as a critical new crossing between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan. At a cost of $5.7 billion, it is the most expensive bridge project in Canadian history and one of the largest infrastructure investments in North American transportation.

Bridge Facts

Named After Mr. Hockey

The bridge is named after Gordie Howe, widely known as “Mr. Hockey” — one of the greatest players in NHL history. Howe played an astonishing 26 seasons in the NHL, mostly with the Detroit Red Wings, and his career spanned five decades. Born in Floral, Saskatchewan, Howe became a legend on both sides of the border, making him the perfect namesake for a bridge connecting Canada and the United States. He passed away in 2016 at age 88.

Why a New Bridge Was Needed

The Windsor-Detroit corridor is the busiest commercial border crossing in North America. Approximately 25% of all Canada-US trade passes through this corridor. For decades, the crossing was served primarily by the Ambassador Bridge — a privately owned toll bridge built in 1929. Reliance on a single, aging, privately controlled crossing for a quarter of bilateral trade was seen as a strategic vulnerability.

The Gordie Howe Bridge provides:

• Redundancy — a second major crossing eliminates the single point of failure
• Government ownership — public control over a critical trade corridor
• Modern customs plazas on both sides with NEXUS/FAST trusted traveller facilities
• Direct highway connections — linking Ontario’s Highway 401 directly to Michigan’s Interstate 75

Engineering & Design

The cable-stayed design features a main span of 850 metres — one of the longest in North America. Two A-shaped towers rise over 200 metres above the Detroit River, making them visible from kilometres away. The bridge was designed to accommodate future transit expansion, with structural capacity for rail or rapid transit if needed.

Economic Impact

Beyond the bridge itself, the project includes massive customs and border inspection plazas on both sides of the river, connecting highway infrastructure, and landscaped community areas. The construction phase alone employed thousands of workers in both countries. Once fully operational, the bridge is expected to reduce border crossing wait times, increase trade capacity, and stimulate economic development in both Windsor and Detroit — two cities whose economies are deeply intertwined.