Acquisitions (Narrative) (Detail) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022 USD ($) entity	Sep. 30, 2021 USD ($) entity	Sep. 30, 2022 USD ($) entity
Acquisitions [Abstract]
Number of immaterial businesses acquired in period \| entity	15	14
Number of individually immaterial acquisitions \| entity			11
Acquisition-related costs	$ 18,694	$ 6,220
Goodwill expected to be deductible for tax purposes	272,186	114,006	$ 272,186
Trade receivables acquired in business combination gross contractual amount	37,486	21,673	37,486
Trade receivables acquired in business combination expected to be uncollectible amount	$ 5,157	$ 1,881	$ 5,157
Fair value of acquired working capital is provisional \| entity			11

The amount of goodwill arising from a business combination that is expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126975305&loc=d3e6927-128479

+ Details

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

- Definition

For receivables acquired in a business combination, excluding certain loans and debt securities acquired in a transfer (as defined), this element represents the best estimate at the acquisition date of the contractual cash flows not expected to be collected, by major class of receivable, such as loans, direct finance leases (as defined), and any other class of receivables.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)(3)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=128092470&loc=d3e4845-128472

+ Details

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

- Definition

For receivables acquired in a business combination, excluding certain loans and debt securities acquired in a transfer (as defined), this element represents the gross contractual amounts receivable, by major class of receivable, such as loans, direct finance leases (as defined), and any other class of receivables.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)(2)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=128092470&loc=d3e4845-128472

+ Details

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

- Definition

This element represents acquisition-related costs incurred to effect a business combination which costs have been expensed during the period. Such costs include finder's fees; advisory, legal, accounting, valuation, and other professional or consulting fees; general administrative costs, including the costs of maintaining an internal acquisitions department; and may include costs of registering and issuing debt and equity securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 23
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123586518&loc=d3e1043-128460

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationAcquisitionRelatedCosts
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

The number of businesses acquired by the entity during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfBusinessesAcquired
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This element represents the number of acquisitions for which the initial accounting is incomplete.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wcn_BusinessCombinationProvisionalInformationInitialAccountingIncompleteNumberOfAcquisitions
Namespace Prefix:	wcn_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration