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Employee Future Benefits - Summary of Pension and Retiree Welfare Plans (Detail) - CAD	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Actuarial losses (gains) due to:
Ending balance	CAD 0
Pension plans [Member]
Disclosure of net defined benefit liability (asset) [Line Items]
Beginning balance	490,000,000
Actuarial losses (gains) due to:
Experience	15,000,000
Demographic assumption changes		CAD (94,000,000)
Economic assumption changes	214,000,000	116,000,000
Ending balance	378,000,000	490,000,000
Actuarial gains (losses)	(312,000,000)	(158,000,000)
Pension plans [Member] | Present value of defined benefit obligation [Member]
Disclosure of net defined benefit liability (asset) [Line Items]
Beginning balance	4,767,000,000	4,823,000,000
Plan mergers		143,000,000
Current service cost	48,000,000	52,000,000
Past service cost		(57,000,000)
Interest cost	182,000,000	196,000,000
Plan participants' contributions	1,000,000	1,000,000
Actuarial losses (gains) due to:
Experience	15,000,000
Demographic assumption changes		(94,000,000)
Economic assumption changes	214,000,000	116,000,000
Benefits paid	(315,000,000)	(314,000,000)
Impact of changes in foreign exchange rates	(206,000,000)	(99,000,000)
Ending balance	4,706,000,000	4,767,000,000
Pension plans [Member] | Plan assets [Member]
Disclosure of net defined benefit liability (asset) [Line Items]
Beginning balance	4,277,000,000	4,122,000,000
Plan mergers		129,000,000
Interest cost	164,000,000	169,000,000
Plan participants' contributions	1,000,000	1,000,000
Actuarial losses (gains) due to:
Benefits paid	(315,000,000)	(314,000,000)
Impact of changes in foreign exchange rates	(191,000,000)	(87,000,000)
Ending balance	4,328,000,000	4,277,000,000
Employer contributions	85,000,000	106,000,000
Administration costs	(5,000,000)	(7,000,000)
Actuarial gains (losses)	312,000,000	158,000,000
Retiree welfare plans [Member]
Disclosure of net defined benefit liability (asset) [Line Items]
Beginning balance	79,000,000
Actuarial losses (gains) due to:
Experience	(9,000,000)	(2,000,000)
Demographic assumption changes		(16,000,000)
Economic assumption changes	41,000,000	20,000,000
Ending balance	78,000,000	79,000,000
Actuarial gains (losses)	(30,000,000)	(8,000,000)
Retiree welfare plans [Member] | Present value of defined benefit obligation [Member]
Disclosure of net defined benefit liability (asset) [Line Items]
Beginning balance	682,000,000	713,000,000
Current service cost	1,000,000	1,000,000
Interest cost	26,000,000	28,000,000
Plan participants' contributions	4,000,000	5,000,000
Actuarial losses (gains) due to:
Experience	(9,000,000)	(2,000,000)
Demographic assumption changes		(16,000,000)
Economic assumption changes	41,000,000	20,000,000
Benefits paid	(45,000,000)	(50,000,000)
Impact of changes in foreign exchange rates	(35,000,000)	(17,000,000)
Ending balance	665,000,000	682,000,000
Retiree welfare plans [Member] | Plan assets [Member]
Disclosure of net defined benefit liability (asset) [Line Items]
Beginning balance	603,000,000	635,000,000
Interest cost	23,000,000	25,000,000
Plan participants' contributions	4,000,000	5,000,000
Actuarial losses (gains) due to:
Benefits paid	(45,000,000)	(50,000,000)
Impact of changes in foreign exchange rates	(38,000,000)	(18,000,000)
Ending balance	587,000,000	603,000,000
Employer contributions	12,000,000
Administration costs	(2,000,000)	(2,000,000)
Actuarial gains (losses)	CAD 30,000,000	CAD 8,000,000

X

- Definition

The decrease (increase) in a net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from actuarial gains (losses) arising from changes in demographic assumptions that result in remeasurements of the net defined benefit liability (asset). Demographic assumptions deal with matters such as: (a) mortality; (b) rates of employee turnover, disability and early retirement; (c) the proportion of plan members with dependants who will be eligible for benefits; (d) the proportion of plan members who will select each form of payment option available under the plan terms; and (e) claim rates under medical plans. [Refer: Net defined benefit liability (asset)]

+ References

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- Definition

The decrease (increase) in a net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from actuarial gains (losses) arising from changes in financial assumptions that result in remeasurements of the net defined benefit liability (asset). Financial assumptions deal with items such as: (a) the discount rate; (b) benefit levels, excluding any cost of the benefits to be met by employees, and future salary; (c) in the case of medical benefits, future medical costs, including claim handling costs (ie the costs that will be incurred in processing and resolving claims, including legal and adjuster's fees); and (d) taxes payable by the plan on contributions relating to service before the reporting date or on benefits resulting from that service. [Refer: Net defined benefit liability (asset)]

+ References

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- Definition

The decrease (increase) in net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from contributions to a defined benefit plan by the employer. [Refer: Net defined benefit liability (asset); Defined benefit plans [member]]

+ References

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The decrease (increase) in the net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from contributions to a defined benefit plan by plan participants. [Refer: Net defined benefit liability (asset); Defined benefit plans [member]]

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- Definition

The increase (decrease) in the net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from employee service in the current period. [Refer: Net defined benefit liability (asset)]

+ References

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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.

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The increase (decrease) in the net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates. [Refer: Net defined benefit liability (asset)]

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
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- Definition

The increase (decrease) in the net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from the passage of time. [Refer: Interest expense; Net defined benefit liability (asset)]

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
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The amount of deficit or surplus in a defined benefit plan, adjusted for any effect of limiting a net defined benefit asset to the asset ceiling. [Refer: Defined benefit plans [member]]

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- Definition

The increase (decrease) in the net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from past service cost. Past service cost is the change in the present value of the defined benefit obligation for employee service in prior periods, resulting from a plan amendment (the introduction or withdrawal of, or changes to, a defined benefit plan) or a curtailment (a significant reduction by the entity in the number of employees covered by a plan). [Refer: Net defined benefit liability (asset); Defined benefit plans [member]]

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The decrease (increase) in the net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from payments from the plan. [Refer: Net defined benefit liability (asset)]

+ References

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- Definition

The decrease (increase) in the net defined benefit liability (asset) resulting from the return on plan assets. The return on plans assets is interest, dividends and other revenue derived from the plan assets, together with realised and unrealised gains or losses on the plan assets, less any costs of managing plan assets and less any tax payable by the plan itself, other than tax included in the actuarial assumptions used to measure the present value of the defined benefit obligation. [Refer: Plan assets [member]; Net defined benefit liability (asset); Actuarial assumptions [member]]

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Actuarial gains (losses) arising from experience, net defined benefit liability (asset).

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Administration costs, net defined benefit liability (asset).

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Increase (decrease) through plan mergers, net defined benefit liability (asset).

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