Summary of Fair Values of Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed Purchase Price Allocation (Details) $ in Thousands, € in Millions, £ in Millions								12 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2019 EUR (€)	Sep. 27, 2018 USD ($)	May 01, 2018 USD ($)	Jul. 03, 2017 USD ($)	Jan. 10, 2017 USD ($)	Jan. 10, 2017 GBP (£)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 EUR (€)	Jul. 31, 2019 EUR (€)	May 01, 2018 GBP (£)	Jul. 03, 2017 EUR (€)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill								$ 274,710	$ 217,662
Total purchase price paid by Novanta									$ 33,500
Less: issuance of common shares								10,900
Less: deferred cash consideration								27,735
ARGES GmbH
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash	$ 3,159
Accounts receivable	1,430
Inventories	7,129
Property, plant and equipment	14,095
Intangible assets	24,713
Goodwill	43,045
Other assets	2,244
Total assets acquired	95,815
Accounts payable	2,598
Deferred tax liabilities	7,081
Other liabilities	13,207
Total liabilities assumed	22,886
Total assets acquired, net of liabilities assumed	72,929										€ 65.5
Total purchase price paid by Novanta	26,700	€ 24.0
Less: cash acquired	3,159
Total purchase price, net of cash acquired	69,770
Less: contingent consideration	7,900							7,900		€ 7.0	€ 7.1
Less: issuance of common shares	10,900	€ 9.8
Less: deferred cash consideration	27,442
Net cash used for acquisition of businesses	$ 23,558
Med X Change, Inc and Ingenia-CAT, S.L.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash								1,000
Accounts receivable								1,739
Inventories								2,372
Property, plant and equipment								496
Intangible assets								22,376
Goodwill								13,388
Other assets								601
Total assets acquired								41,972
Accounts payable								604
Deferred tax liabilities								2,399
Other liabilities								910
Total liabilities assumed								3,913
Total assets acquired, net of liabilities assumed								38,059
Less: cash acquired								1,000
Total purchase price, net of cash acquired								37,059
Less: contingent consideration								6,569
Net cash used for acquisition of businesses								29,585
Less: purchase price holdback								$ 905
Zettlex Holdings Limited
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash				$ 3,776
Accounts receivable				2,237
Inventories				928
Property, plant and equipment				2,590
Intangible assets				14,585
Goodwill				11,790
Other assets				145
Total assets acquired				36,051
Accounts payable				509
Deferred tax liabilities				2,481
Accrued expenses and other liabilities				1,035
Total liabilities assumed				4,025
Total assets acquired, net of liabilities assumed				32,026								£ 23.3
Less: cash acquired				3,776
Total purchase price, net of cash acquired				$ 28,250
World of Medicine GmbH
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash					$ 1,400
Accounts receivable					11,807
Inventories					14,549
Property, plant and equipment					21,940
Intangible assets					59,732
Goodwill					55,632
Other assets					2,660
Total assets acquired					167,720
Accounts payable					4,398
Deferred tax liabilities					19,707
Other liabilities					8,681
Total liabilities assumed					32,786
Total assets acquired, net of liabilities assumed					134,934								€ 118.1
Less: cash acquired					1,400
Total purchase price, net of cash acquired					$ 133,534
Laser Quantum
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash						$ 15,343
Accounts receivable						2,739
Inventories						6,264
Property, plant and equipment						2,286
Intangible assets						38,955
Goodwill						31,168
Other assets						717
Total assets acquired						97,472
Accounts payable						796
Deferred tax liabilities						7,337
Other liabilities						2,068
Total liabilities assumed						10,201
Total assets acquired, net of liabilities assumed			$ 45,100			87,271
Less: fair value of equity interest previously held by Novanta						34,637
Less: fair value of noncontrolling interest						21,582
Total purchase price paid by Novanta			$ 30,700			31,052	£ 25.5
Less: cash acquired						15,343
Total purchase price, net of cash acquired						15,709
ThingMagic
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Inventories						1,832
Intangible assets						7,423
Goodwill						9,929
Total assets acquired						19,184
Other liabilities						95
Total liabilities assumed						95
Total assets acquired, net of liabilities assumed						$ 19,089