A ribbon cutting ceremony was scheduled for Friday to honour the new Gordie Howe International Bridge, named for the Canadian hockey legend who played for the Detroit Red Wings.
Chuck Andary of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority said Canada and the United States have agreed to delay the opening and are taking the necessary time to resolve outstanding issues.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier this week the bridge might not open on time but there was no big drama.
Andary said in a statement the bridge would be a vital economic link for both countries and the two sides were taking a collaborative approach to set an opening date.
The organisation did not explain the latest delays or confirm when the ceremony and actual opening would take place.
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Carney said everyone was working hard to make sure the bridge is open as soon as possible, adding that if it takes a little longer it will take a little longer.
Construction began in 2018 and connects the Canadian province of Ontario to the US state of Michigan, but the project has proven contentious for more than a decade.
The bridge faced several delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as threats from US President Donald Trump to shut it down.
In February Trump demanded that Canada share authority and ownership of the bridge, which was built by the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, a Canadian federal Crown corporation wholly owned by the government but operating at arm’s length.
The bridge is estimated at 6.4 billion Canadian dollars.
The Moroun family, the American owners of the neighbouring Ambassador Bridge also connecting Detroit to Canada, has lobbied Trump to stop construction.
They argued it infringed on their exclusive ability to collect tolls, as the Ambassador is one of the few privately owned crossings.
Officials in Michigan including Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senator Elissa Slotkin, as well as officials in neighbouring Windsor, have said the bridge will bring jobs and other economic benefits for both countries.
The project was negotiated by former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, to help improve congestion at the Ambassador and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.
The delay comes after a year of tensions between Canada and the US during Trump’s return to office.
Last year Trump launched a trade war with Canada and several other allies when he imposed new tariffs, while he has also angered the northern neighbour by suggesting he wants to make Canada the 51st state.
This week during trade talks Trump said he was not sure he would renew the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade pact uniting the three North American economies for several decades.
The trade tensions have spilled over into unrelated areas, with Canadian travel to the US plunging by 20 percent last year costing the US economy more than four billion dollars according to estimates by the US Travel Association.
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