v3.26.1

Landfill Accounting - Liability Adjustments and Restricted Cash and Investments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2026	Dec. 31, 2025
Landfill Accounting [Line Items]
Liability adjustments	$ 106,659
Final capping, closure and post-closure liability - current portion	155,908	$ 146,772
Final capping, closure and post-closure liability - noncurrent portion	545,204	504,814
Restricted cash	210,199	183,612
Restricted investments	80,397	80,757
Landfill
Landfill Accounting [Line Items]
Restricted cash	11,980	10,451
Restricted investments	$ 80,295	$ 80,655

Current portion of the carrying amount of a liability for an asset retirement obligation. An asset retirement obligation is a legal obligation associated with the disposal or retirement of a tangible long-lived asset that results from the acquisition, construction or development, or the normal operations of a long-lived asset, except for certain obligations of lessees.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Topic 410
-SubTopic 20
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147481850/410-20-50-1

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AssetRetirementObligationCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of asset retirement obligations incurred during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Topic 410
-SubTopic 20
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)(1)
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147481850/410-20-50-1

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Noncurrent portion of the carrying amount of a liability for an asset retirement obligation. An asset retirement obligation is a legal obligation associated with the disposal or retirement of a tangible long-lived asset that results from the acquisition, construction or development, or the normal operations of a long-lived asset, except for certain obligations of lessees.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AssetRetirementObligationsNoncurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of cash and cash equivalent restricted as to withdrawal or usage, classified as noncurrent. Cash includes, but is not limited to, currency on hand, demand deposit with financial institution, and account with general characteristic of demand deposit. Cash equivalent includes, but is not limited to, short-term, highly liquid investment that is both readily convertible to known amount of cash and so near maturity that it presents insignificant risk of change in value because of change in interest rate.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147482913/230-10-50-8

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 4
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147482740/230-10-45-4

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-SubTopic 210
-Topic 954
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147477220/954-210-45-5

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This element represents the noncurrent portion of investments which are not defined as or included in marketable (debt, equity, or other) securities that are pledged or subject to withdrawal restrictions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Topic 954
-SubTopic 210
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 45
-Paragraph 4
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147477220/954-210-45-4

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Topic 954
-SubTopic 210
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Publisher FASB
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/1943274/2147478600/954-210-50-2

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	wcn_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Waste Connections, Inc. 10-Q