Accounting changes	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Accounting changes	2. Accounting changes Effective January 1, 2019, Imperial adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s standard, Leases (Topic 842) , as amended. The standard requires all leases to be recorded on the balance sheet as a right of use asset and a lease liability. The company used a transition method that applies the new lease standard at January 1, 2019. Imperial applied a policy election to exclude short-term leases from balance sheet recognition and also elected certain practical expedients at adoption. As permitted, the company did not reassess whether existing contracts are or contain leases, the lease classification for any existing leases, initial direct costs for any existing lease and whether existing land easements and rights of way, which were not previously accounted for as leases, are or contain a lease. At adoption on January 1, 2019, an operating lease liability of $298 million was recorded and the operating lease right of use asset was $298 million. There was no cumulative earnings effect adjustment.

Effective January 1, 2019, Imperial adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s standard,

Leases (Topic 842)

as amended. The standard requires all leases to be recorded on the balance sheet as a right of use asset and a lease liability. The company used a transition method that applies the new lease standard at January 1, 2019. Imperial applied a policy election to exclude short-term leases from balance sheet recognition and also elected certain practical expedients at adoption. As permitted, the company did not reassess whether existing contracts are or contain leases, the lease classification for any existing leases, initial direct costs for any existing lease and whether existing land easements and rights of way, which were not previously accounted for as leases, are or contain a lease. At adoption on January 1, 2019, an operating lease liability of $298 million was recorded and the operating lease right of use asset was $298 million. There was no cumulative earnings effect adjustment.