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Insurance Contract Liabilities and Investment Contract Liabilities - Impact of Method and Assumption Changes (Details) - CAD ($) $ in Millions | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2018 | Dec. 31, 2017
Disclosure of types of insurance contracts [line items] |  |
Net increase (decrease) before income taxes | $ (278) | $ (173)
Mortality / Morbidity |  |
Disclosure of types of insurance contracts [line items] |  |
Net increase (decrease) before income taxes | (337) | (286)
Lapse and other policyholder behaviour |  |
Disclosure of types of insurance contracts [line items] |  |
Net increase (decrease) before income taxes | 563 | 149
Expenses |  |
Disclosure of types of insurance contracts [line items] |  |
Net increase (decrease) before income taxes | 6 | 71
Investment returns |  |
Disclosure of types of insurance contracts [line items] |  |
Net increase (decrease) before income taxes | (331) | (62)
Model enhancements and other |  |
Disclosure of types of insurance contracts [line items] |  |
Net increase (decrease) before income taxes | $ (179) | $ (45)

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- Definition Line items represent concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes of the table. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The increase (decrease) in insurance liabilities, net of reinsurance. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef -Name IAS -Number 1 -IssueDate 2017-01-01 -Paragraph 85 -URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/XBRL?type=IAS&num=1&date=2017-03-01&anchor=para_85&doctype=Standard -URIDate 2017-03-09 + Details
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- Details
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