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Post-employee benefit plans (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Employee Benefits [Abstract] |
Components of post-employment benefit plans service cost | COMPONENTS OF POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFIT PLANS SERVICE COST
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 | 2017 |  | 2016 |
DB pension | (208 | ) | (203 | )
DC pension | (102 | ) | (100 | )
OPEBs | (6 | ) | (7 | )
Plan amendment gain on OPEBs and DB pension | 16 |  | 27 |
Less: |  |
| Capitalized benefit plans cost | 58 |  | 59 |
Total post-employment benefit plans service cost included in operating costs | (242 | ) | (224 | )
Other costs recognized in severance, acquisition and other costs | (10 | ) | 5 |
Total post-employment benefit plans service cost | (252 | ) | (219 | )
Components of post-employment benefit plans financing cost | COMPONENTS OF POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFIT PLANS FINANCING COST
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 | 2017 |  | 2016 |
DB pension | (18 | ) | (24 | )
OPEBs | (54 | ) | (57 | )
Total interest on post-employment benefit obligations | (72 | ) | (81 | )
Defined benefit plans recognized in comprehensive income | The statements of comprehensive income include the following amounts before income taxes.
|  | 2017 |  | 2016 |
Cumulative losses recognized directly in equity, January 1 | (2,646 | ) | (2,384 | )
| Actuarial losses in other comprehensive income(1) | (313 | ) | (264 | )
| (Increase) decrease in the effect of the asset limit(2) | (25 | ) | 2 |
Cumulative losses recognized directly in equity, December 31 | (2,984 | ) | (2,646 | )
(1) | The cumulative actuarial losses recognized in the statements of comprehensive income are $3,217 million in 2017.
(2) | The cumulative decrease in the effect of the asset limit recognized in the statements of comprehensive income is $233 million in 2017.
Components of post-employment benefit (obligations) assets | The following table shows the change in post-employment benefit obligations and the fair value of plan assets.
|  |  |  | DB PENSION PLANS | OPEB PLANS | TOTAL
|  |  |  | 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2017 |  | 2016 |
Post-employment benefit obligations, January 1 | (20,853 | ) | (20,675 | ) | (1,684 | ) | (1,705 | ) | (22,537 | ) | (22,380 | )
| Current service cost | (208 | ) | (203 | ) | (6 | ) | (7 | ) | (214 | ) | (210 | )
| Interest on obligations | (896 | ) | (852 | ) | (65 | ) | (68 | ) | (961 | ) | (920 | )
| Actuarial (losses) gains(1) | (1,193 | ) | (311 | ) | (28 | ) | 12 |  | (1,221 | ) | (299 | )
| Net curtailment (losses) gains | (4 | ) | 27 |  | 16 |  | 5 |  | 12 |  | 32 |
| Loss on plan transfer | (6 | ) | — |  | — |  | — |  | (6 | ) | — |
| Benefit payments | 1,320 |  | 1,169 |  | 81 |  | 79 |  | 1,401 |  | 1,248 |
| Employee contributions | (10 | ) | (5 | ) | — |  | — |  | (10 | ) | (5 | )
| Acquisition of MTS | (2,677 | ) | — |  | (5 | ) | — |  | (2,682 | ) | — |
| Plan transfer | 122 |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | 122 |  | — |
| Other | 1 |  | (3 | ) | 38 |  | — |  | 39 |  | (3 | )
Post-employment benefit obligations, December 31 | (24,404 | ) | (20,853 | ) | (1,653 | ) | (1,684 | ) | (26,057 | ) | (22,537 | )
Fair value of plan assets, January 1 | 20,563 |  | 20,244 |  | 280 |  | 266 |  | 20,843 |  | 20,510 |
| Expected return on plan assets(2) | 878 |  | 828 |  | 11 |  | 11 |  | 889 |  | 839 |
| Actuarial gains(1) | 896 |  | 29 |  | 12 |  | 6 |  | 908 |  | 35 |
| Benefit payments | (1,320 | ) | (1,169 | ) | (81 | ) | (79 | ) | (1,401 | ) | (1,248 | )
| Employer contributions | 305 |  | 626 |  | 77 |  | 76 |  | 382 |  | 702 |
| Employee contributions | 10 |  | 5 |  | — |  | — |  | 10 |  | 5 |
| Acquisition of MTS | 2,735 |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | 2,735 |  | — |
| Plan transfer | (122 | ) | — |  | — |  | — |  | (122 | ) | — |
Fair value of plan assets, December 31 | 23,945 |  | 20,563 |  | 299 |  | 280 |  | 24,244 |  | 20,843 |
Plan deficit |  |  | (459 | ) | (290 | ) | (1,354 | ) | (1,404 | ) | (1,813 | ) | (1,694 | )
Effect of asset limit |  |  | (33 | ) | (8 | ) | — |  | — |  | (33 | ) | (8 | )
Post-employment benefit liability, December 31 | (492 | ) | (298 | ) | (1,354 | ) | (1,404 | ) | (1,846 | ) | (1,702 | )
Post-employment benefit assets included in other non-current assets | 262 |  | 403 |  | — |  | — |  | 262 |  | 403 |
Post-employment benefit obligations | (754 | ) | (701 | ) | (1,354 | ) | (1,404 | ) | (2,108 | ) | (2,105 | )
(1) | Actuarial (losses) gains include experience gains of $911 million in 2017 and $157 million in 2016.
(2) | The actual return on plan assets was $1,797 million or 8.2% in 2017 and $874 million or 4.7% in 2016.
Funded status of post-employment benefit plans cost | The following table shows the funded status of our post-employment benefit obligations.
|  | FUNDED | PARTIALLY FUNDED(1) | UNFUNDED(2) | TOTAL
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 | 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2017 |  | 2016 |
Present value of post- employment benefit obligations | (23,746 | ) | (20,249 | ) | (1,976 | ) | (1,995 | ) | (335 | ) | (293 | ) | (26,057 | ) | (22,537 | )
Fair value of plan assets | 23,894 |  | 20,520 |  | 350 |  | 323 |  | — |  | — |  | 24,244 |  | 20,843 |
Plan surplus (deficit) | 148 |  | 271 |  | (1,626 | ) | (1,672 | ) | (335 | ) | (293 | ) | (1,813 | ) | (1,694 | )
(1) | The partially funded plans consist of supplementary executive retirement plans (SERPs) for eligible employees and OPEBs. The company partially funds the SERPs through letters of credit and a retirement compensation arrangement account with Canada Revenue Agency. Certain paid-up life insurance benefits are funded through life insurance contracts.
(2) | Our unfunded plans consist of OPEBs, which are pay-as-you-go.
Disclosure of significant assumptions | We used the following key assumptions to measure the post-employment benefit obligations and the net benefit plans cost for the DB pension plans and OPEB plans. These assumptions are long-term, which is consistent with the nature of post-employment benefit plans.
|  |  | DB PENSION PLANS AND OPEB PLANS
|  |  | 2017 |  | 2016 |
At December 31 |  |
Post-employment benefit obligations |  |
| Discount rate | 3.6 | % | 4.0 | %
| Rate of compensation increase | 2.25 | % | 2.25 | %
| Cost of living indexation rate(1) | 1.6 | % | 1.6 | %
| Life expectancy at age 65 (years) | 23.2 |  | 23.1 |
For the year ended December 31 |  |
Net post-employment benefit plans cost |  |
| Discount rate | 4.2 | % | 4.3 | %
| Rate of compensation increase | 2.25 | % | 2.5 | %
| Cost of living indexation rate(1) | 1.6 | % | 1.6 | %
| Life expectancy at age 65 (years) | 23.1 |  | 23.0 |
(1) | Cost of living indexation rate is only applicable to DB pension plans.
Disclosure of sensitivity analysis for actuarial assumptions [text block] | The following table shows the effect of a 1% change in the assumed trend rates in healthcare costs.
EFFECT ON POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS – INCREASE/(DECREASE) | 1% INCREASE |  | 1% DECREASE |
Total service and interest cost | 7 |  | (5 | )
Post-employment benefit obligations | 133 |  | (115 | )
The following table shows a sensitivity analysis of key assumptions used to measure the net post-employment benefit obligations and the net post-employment benefit plans cost for our DB pension plans and OPEB plans.
|  |  |  | IMPACT ON NET POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFIT PLANS COST FOR 2017 – INCREASE/(DECREASE) | IMPACT ON POST-EMPLOYMENT BENEFIT OBLIGATIONS AT DECEMBER 31, 2017 – INCREASE/(DECREASE)
|  |  | CHANGE IN ASSUMPTION |  | INCREASE IN ASSUMPTION |  | DECREASE IN ASSUMPTION |  | INCREASE IN ASSUMPTION |  | DECREASE IN ASSUMPTION |
Discount rate | 0.5 | % | (70 | ) | 62 |  | (1,636 | ) | 1,746 |
Life expectancy at age 65 | 1 year |  | 33 |  | (31 | ) | 834 |  | (808 | )
Post-employment benefit plan assets | The following table shows the target allocations for 2017 and the allocation of our post-employment benefit plan assets at December 31, 2017 and 2016.
|  |  | WEIGHTED AVERAGE TARGET ALLOCATION | TOTAL PLAN ASSETS FAIR VALUE AT DECEMBER 31 ( % )
ASSET CATEGORY | 2017 | 2017 |  | 2016 |
Equity securities | 20%–35% | 22 | % | 22 | %
Debt securities | 55%–80% | 65 | % | 68 | %
Alternative investments | 0%–25% | 13 | % | 10 | %
Total |  |  | 100 | % | 100 | %
The following table shows the fair value of the DB pension plan assets at the end of the year for each category.
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 | 2017 |  | 2016 |
Observable markets data |  |
| Equity securities |  |
|  | Canadian | 1,045 |  | 901 |
|  | Foreign | 4,349 |  | 3,682 |
| Debt securities |  |
|  | Canadian | 13,126 |  | 12,469 |
|  | Foreign | 1,890 |  | 1,068 |
|  | Money market | 491 |  | 387 |
Non-observable markets inputs |  |
| Alternative investments |  |
|  | Private equities | 1,484 |  | 1,164 |
|  | Hedge funds | 965 |  | 726 |
|  | Real estate | 484 |  | 55 |
|  | Other | 111 |  | 111 |
Total |  | 23,945 |  | 20,563 |
Disclosure of contributions to post-employment benefit plans | The following table shows the amounts we contributed to the DB and DC pension plans and the payments made to beneficiaries under OPEB plans.
|  |  | DB PLANS(1) | DC PLANS | OPEB PLANS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 | 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2017 |  | 2016 |
Contributions | (305 | ) | (626 | ) | (108 | ) | (99 | ) | (77 | ) | (76 | )
(1) | Includes voluntary contributions of $100 million in 2017 and $400 million in 2016.

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