Business Combinations (Schedule of Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed) (Details) € in Thousands, CAD in Thousands, $ in Thousands							3 Months Ended
		Nov. 15, 2016 CAD	Nov. 15, 2016 USD ($)	Aug. 01, 2016 USD ($)	Feb. 19, 2016 EUR (€)	Feb. 19, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill acquired on acquisition							$ 98,065	$ 97,537
Mascus International Holdings BV [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price					€ 26,553	$ 29,580
Fair value of contingent consideration						3,431
Non-controlling interests	[1]					596
Total fair value at acquisition date						33,607
Cash and cash equivalents						1,457
Trade and other receivables						1,290
Prepaid expenses						528
Property, plant and equipment						104
Intangible assets	[2]					14,817
Trade and other payables						1,533
Other non-current liabilities						37
Deferred tax liabilities						2,683
Fair value of identifiable net assets acquired						13,943
Goodwill acquired on acquisition						$ 19,664
Mascus International Holdings BV [Member] | Customer Relationships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amortization life							17 years
Mascus International Holdings BV [Member] | Software Assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amortization life							5 years
Mascus International Holdings BV [Member] | Trade Names [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amortization life							5 years
Petrowsky Auctioneers Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price				$ 6,250
Fair value of contingent consideration				1,433
Total fair value at acquisition date				7,683
Property, plant and equipment				441
Intangible assets	[3]			2,934
Fair value of identifiable net assets acquired				3,375
Goodwill acquired on acquisition				$ 4,308
Petrowsky Auctioneers Inc. [Member] | Customer Relationships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amortization life				10 years
Kramer Auctions Ltd. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Purchase price		CAD 15,000	$ 11,138
Deferred purchase note consideration		CAD 300	223
Fair value of contingent consideration			538
Total fair value at acquisition date			11,899
Property, plant and equipment			399
Intangible assets	[4]		4,678
Fair value of identifiable net assets acquired			5,077
Goodwill acquired on acquisition			$ 6,822
Kramer Auctions Ltd. [Member] | Customer Relationships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amortization life							10 years
Kramer Auctions Ltd. [Member] | Trade Names [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amortization life							3 years

[1] The Company acquired 100% of Mascus and within the Mascus group of entities there were two subsidiaries that were not wholly-owned, one domiciled in the United States and one domiciled in Denmark. As such, the Company acquired non-controlling interests. The fair value of each non-controlling interest was determined using an income approach based on cash flows of the respective entities that were attributable to the non-controlling interest. On May 27, 2016, Ritchie Bros. Holdings (America) Inc. acquired the remaining issued and outstanding shares of the Mascus subsidiary domiciled in the United States for cash consideration of $226,000.

[2] Intangible assets consist of customer relationships with estimated useful lives of 17 years, indefinite-lived trade names, and software assets with estimated useful lives of five years.

[3] Consists of customer relationships with estimated useful lives of 10 years.

[4] Consists of customer relationships and trade names with estimated useful lives of 10 and three years, respectively.