Long-Term Debt (Tax-Exempt Bond Financings) (Detail) - Tax-exempt Bonds [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding balance of bonds	$ 31,430	$ 31,430
Outstanding standby letters of credit	$ 31,804
West Valley Bond [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Type of interest rate	Variable
Interest rate on bond at December 31, 2015	0.05%
Maturity date of bond	Aug. 01, 2018
Outstanding balance of bonds	$ 15,500	15,500
Outstanding standby letters of credit	$ 15,678
Lemay Washington Bond [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Type of interest rate	Variable
Interest rate on bond at December 31, 2015	0.05%
Maturity date of bond	Apr. 01, 2033
Outstanding balance of bonds	$ 15,930	$ 15,930
Outstanding standby letters of credit	$ 16,126

Amount of long-term debt before deduction of unamortized discount or premium. Includes, but is not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, commercial loans, mortgage loans, convertible debt, subordinated debt and other types of debt, with initial maturities beyond one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 02
-Paragraph 20
-Article 5

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 03
-Paragraph 16
-Article 9

+ Details

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

- Definition

Effective interest rate for the funds borrowed under the debt agreement considering interest compounding and original issue discount or premium.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6451184&loc=d3e28551-108399

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateEffectivePercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Description of the interest rate as being fixed or variable, and, if variable, identification of the index or rate on which the interest rate is based and the number of points or percentage added to that index or rate to set the rate, and other pertinent information, such as frequency of rate resets.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateTerms
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- 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

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date when the debt instrument is scheduled to be fully repaid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentMaturityDate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of outstanding standby letters of credit as of the reporting date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wcn_OutstandingStandbyLettersOfCredit
Namespace Prefix:	wcn_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis=wcn_TaxExemptBondsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=wcn_WestValleyBondMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=wcn_LemayWashingtonBondMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: