Net Income Per Share Information (Basic and Diluted Net Income Per Common Share) (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Numerator:
Net income attributable to Waste Connections for basic and diluted earnings per share	$ 49,015	$ 41,556
Denominator:
Basic shares outstanding	123,963,001	123,380,799
Dilutive effect of stock options and warrants	137,594	202,115
Diluted shares outstanding	124,714,097	123,904,929
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]
Denominator:
Dilutive effect of restricted stock units	613,502	322,015