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Subsequent Events (Notes)	6 Months Ended
Subsequent Events (Notes)	Jun. 30, 2020
Subsequent Events [Abstract]
Subsequent Events [Text Block]	15. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS On July 17, 2020, WESCO announced that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of one preferred share purchase right (a “Right”) for each outstanding share of common stock of WESCO, par value $0.01 per share (“WESCO Common Stock”), and adopted a stockholder rights plan, as set forth in the Rights Agreement, dated as of July 17, 2020 (the “Rights Agreement”), by and between WESCO and Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as rights agent. The dividend is payable on July 27, 2020 to WESCO stockholders of record as of the close of business on July 27, 2020. The Rights Agreement provides that the Rights will expire on July 16, 2021. In general terms, the Rights Agreement works by imposing a significant penalty upon any person or group which acquires 10% or more (15% or more in the case of passive investors filing statements on Schedule 13G) of the outstanding WESCO Common Stock without the approval of the Board. However, passive investors filing statements on Schedule 13G will not benefit from the higher threshold if they subsequently file a statement on Schedule 13D and, at such time or anytime thereafter, beneficially own 10% or more of the outstanding WESCO Common Stock, unless such investors reduce their ownership to below 10% within 10 days from such filing. If a person or group beneficially owns 10% or more (or, in the case of passive investors filing statements on Schedule 13G, 15% or more) of WESCO Common Stock at the time of the adoption of the rights plan, such person’s or group’s ownership will be “grandfathered” at the level of their ownership at the time of the adoption of the rights plan, but the rights would become exercisable if such person or group subsequently acquires any additional shares of WESCO Common Stock. The Rights Agreement will not interfere with any merger or other business combination approved by the Board. On August 6, 2020, WESCO entered into a Consent Agreement with the Competition Bureau of Canada (“Bureau”) regarding its merger with Anixter International. The Consent Agreement involves a commitment to divest the legacy WESCO Utility and Datacom businesses in Canada, which had total sales of approximately $150 million in 2019. The closing of the merger transaction with Anixter, as disclosed in Note 4, occurred after the expiry of the applicable waiting period under Canadian competition law. WESCO has been working cooperatively with the Bureau, and the Consent Agreement reflects an agreement to settle outstanding matters. The process to divest the businesses has commenced and is expected to be completed expeditiously. The net proceeds realized from the divestiture of the businesses will be used to repay indebtedness.