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Financial and capital management (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2018
Financial Instruments [Abstract] |
Fair value details of financial instruments measured at amortized cost | The following table provides the fair value details of financial instruments measured at amortized cost in the statements of financial position.
|  |  |  |  | December 31, 2018 | December 31, 2017 | January 1, 2017
| CLASSIFICATION | FAIR VALUE METHODOLOGY | NOTE | CARRYING VALUE |  | FAIR VALUE |  | CARRYING VALUE |  | FAIR VALUE |  | CARRYING VALUE |  | FAIR VALUE |
CRTC tangible benefits obligation | Trade payables and other liabilities and non-current liabilities | Present value of estimated future cash flows discounted using observable market interest rates | 20, | 25 | 61 |  | 61 |  | 111 |  | 110 |  | 166 |  | 169 |
CRTC deferral account obligation | Trade payables and other liabilities and non-current liabilities | Present value of estimated future cash flows discounted using observable market interest rates | 20, | 25 | 108 |  | 112 |  | 124 |  | 128 |  | 136 |  | 145 |
Debt securities, finance leases and other debt | Debt due within one year and long-term debt | Quoted market price of debt or present value of future cash flows discounted using observable market interest rates | 21, | 22 | 20,285 |  | 21,482 |  | 19,321 |  | 21,298 |  | 17,879 |  | 20,093 |
Disclosure of fair value measurement of assets | The following table provides the fair value details of financial instruments measured at fair value in the statements of financial position.
|  |  |  | FAIR VALUE
| CLASSIFICATION | NOTE | CARRYING VALUE OF ASSET (LIABILITY) |  | QUOTED PRICES IN ACTIVE MARKETS FOR IDENTICAL ASSETS (LEVEL 1) |  | OBSERVABLE MARKET DATA (LEVEL 2)(1) |  | NON-OBSERVABLE MARKET INPUTS (LEVEL 3)(2) |
December 31, 2018 |  |  |  |  |  |
Publicly-traded and privately-held investments | Other non-current assets | 18 |  | 110 |  | 1 |  | — |  | 109 |
Derivative financial instruments | Other current assets, trade payables and other liabilities, other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 181 |  | — |  | 181 |  | — |
MLSE financial liability(3) | Trade payables and other liabilities | 20 |  | (135 | ) | — |  | — |  | (135 | )
Other | Other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 43 |  | — |  | 114 |  | (71 | )
December 31, 2017 |  |  |  |  |  |
Publicly-traded and privately-held investments | Other non-current assets | 18 |  | 103 |  | 1 |  | — |  | 102 |
Derivative financial instruments | Other current assets, trade payables and other liabilities, other non-current assets and liabilities |  | (48 | ) | — |  | (48 | ) | — |
MLSE financial liability(3) | Trade payables and other liabilities | 20 |  | (135 | ) | — |  | — |  | (135 | )
Other | Other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 60 |  | — |  | 106 |  | (46 | )
January 1, 2017 |  |  |  |  |  |
Publicly-traded and privately-held investments | Other non-current assets | 18 |  | 103 |  | 1 |  | — |  | 102 |
Derivative financial instruments | Other current assets, trade payables and other liabilities, other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 166 |  | — |  | 166 |  | — |
MLSE financial liability(3) | Trade payables and other liabilities | 20 |  | (135 | ) | — |  | — |  | (135 | )
Other | Other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 35 |  | — |  | 88 |  | (53 | )
(1) | Observable market data such as equity prices, interest rates, swap rate curves and foreign currency exchange rates.
(2) | Non-observable market inputs such as discounted cash flows and earnings multiples. A reasonable change in our assumptions would not result in a significant increase (decrease) to our level 3 financial instruments.
(3) | Represents BCE’s obligation to repurchase the Master Trust Fund’s 9% interest in MLSE at a price not less than an agreed minimum price should the Master Trust Fund exercise its put option. The obligation to repurchase is marked to market each reporting period and the gain or loss is recorded in Other expense in the income statements. The option has been exercisable since 2017.
Disclosure of fair value measurement of liabilities | The following table provides the fair value details of financial instruments measured at fair value in the statements of financial position.
|  |  |  | FAIR VALUE
| CLASSIFICATION | NOTE | CARRYING VALUE OF ASSET (LIABILITY) |  | QUOTED PRICES IN ACTIVE MARKETS FOR IDENTICAL ASSETS (LEVEL 1) |  | OBSERVABLE MARKET DATA (LEVEL 2)(1) |  | NON-OBSERVABLE MARKET INPUTS (LEVEL 3)(2) |
December 31, 2018 |  |  |  |  |  |
Publicly-traded and privately-held investments | Other non-current assets | 18 |  | 110 |  | 1 |  | — |  | 109 |
Derivative financial instruments | Other current assets, trade payables and other liabilities, other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 181 |  | — |  | 181 |  | — |
MLSE financial liability(3) | Trade payables and other liabilities | 20 |  | (135 | ) | — |  | — |  | (135 | )
Other | Other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 43 |  | — |  | 114 |  | (71 | )
December 31, 2017 |  |  |  |  |  |
Publicly-traded and privately-held investments | Other non-current assets | 18 |  | 103 |  | 1 |  | — |  | 102 |
Derivative financial instruments | Other current assets, trade payables and other liabilities, other non-current assets and liabilities |  | (48 | ) | — |  | (48 | ) | — |
MLSE financial liability(3) | Trade payables and other liabilities | 20 |  | (135 | ) | — |  | — |  | (135 | )
Other | Other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 60 |  | — |  | 106 |  | (46 | )
January 1, 2017 |  |  |  |  |  |
Publicly-traded and privately-held investments | Other non-current assets | 18 |  | 103 |  | 1 |  | — |  | 102 |
Derivative financial instruments | Other current assets, trade payables and other liabilities, other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 166 |  | — |  | 166 |  | — |
MLSE financial liability(3) | Trade payables and other liabilities | 20 |  | (135 | ) | — |  | — |  | (135 | )
Other | Other non-current assets and liabilities |  | 35 |  | — |  | 88 |  | (53 | )
(1) | Observable market data such as equity prices, interest rates, swap rate curves and foreign currency exchange rates.
(2) | Non-observable market inputs such as discounted cash flows and earnings multiples. A reasonable change in our assumptions would not result in a significant increase (decrease) to our level 3 financial instruments.
(3) | Represents BCE’s obligation to repurchase the Master Trust Fund’s 9% interest in MLSE at a price not less than an agreed minimum price should the Master Trust Fund exercise its put option. The obligation to repurchase is marked to market each reporting period and the gain or loss is recorded in Other expense in the income statements. The option has been exercisable since 2017.
Change in allowance for doubtful accounts | The following table provides the change in allowance for doubtful accounts for trade receivables.
| NOTE |  | 2018 |  | 2017 |
Balance, January 1 |  | (54 | ) | (60 | )
Adoption of IFRS 9 (1) |  | (4 | ) | — |
Additions |  | (84 | ) | (99 | )
Usage |  | 91 |  | 105 |
Balance, December 31 | 11 |  | (51 | ) | (54 | )
(1) | We adopted IFRS 9, Financial Instruments, effective January 1, 2018. See Note 2, Significant accounting policies, for additional details.
The following table provides the change in allowance for doubtful accounts for contract assets.
|  | NOTE | 2018 |  | 2017 |
Balance, January 1 |  | (96 | ) | (92 | )
Additions |  | (50 | ) | (39 | )
Usage |  | 55 |  | 35 |
Balance, December 31 |  | (91 | ) | (96 | )
Current |  | (44 | ) | (47 | )
Non-current |  | (47 | ) | (49 | )
Balance, December 31 | 13 | (91 | ) | (96 | )
Details on trade receivables not impaired | The following table provides further details on trade receivables not impaired.
AS AT | December 31, 2018 |  | December 31, 2017 |  | January 1, 2017 |
Trade receivables not past due | 2,091 |  | 2,255 |  | 2,192 |
Trade receivables past due and not impaired |  |  |
| Under 60 days | 508 |  | 491 |  | 286 |
| 60 to 120 days | 304 |  | 279 |  | 360 |
| Over 120 days | 72 |  | 56 |  | 75 |
Trade receivables, net of allowance for doubtful accounts | 2,975 |  | 3,081 |  | 2,913 |
Maturity analysis for recognized financial liabilities | The following table is a maturity analysis for recognized financial liabilities at December 31, 2018 for each of the next five years and thereafter.
AT DECEMBER 31, 2018 | NOTE | 2019 |  | 2020 |  | 2021 |  | 2022 |  | 2023 |  | THERE- AFTER | TOTAL
Long-term debt | 22 | 59 |  | 1,453 |  | 2,275 |  | 1,739 |  | 1,622 |  | 11,079 |  | 18,227 |
Notes payable | 21 | 3,201 |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | 3,201 |
Minimum future lease payments under finance leases | 15 | 586 |  | 513 |  | 344 |  | 276 |  | 238 |  | 667 |  | 2,624 |
Loan secured by trade receivables | 21 | 919 |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | 919 |
Interest payable on long-term debt, notes payable and loan secured by trade receivables |  | 866 |  | 751 |  | 709 |  | 648 |  | 581 |  | 6,671 |  | 10,226 |
Net interest receipts on cross currency basis swaps |  | (6 | ) | (6 | ) | (6 | ) | (6 | ) | (6 | ) | (134 | ) | (164 | )
MLSE financial liability | 20 | 135 |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | — |  | 135 |
Total |  |  | 5,760 |  | 2,711 |  | 3,322 |  | 2,657 |  | 2,435 |  | 18,283 |  | 35,168 |
Details on outstanding foreign currency forward contracts and cross currency basis swaps | The following table provides further details on our outstanding foreign currency forward contracts as at December 31, 2018.
TYPE OF HEDGE | BUY CURRENCY | AMOUNT TO RECEIVE |  | SELL CURRENCY | AMOUNT TO PAY |  | MATURITY | HEDGED ITEM
Cash flow | USD | 2,329 |  | CAD | 3,077 |  | 2019 | Commercial paper
Cash flow | USD | 779 |  | CAD | 973 |  | 2019 | Anticipated transactions
Cash flow | CAD | 15 |  | USD | 12 |  | 2019 | Anticipated transactions
Cash flow | USD | 256 |  | CAD | 324 |  | 2020-2021 | Anticipated transactions
Economic | USD | 120 |  | CAD | 153 |  | 2019 | Anticipated transactions
Economic - call options | USD | 48 |  | CAD | 60 |  | 2020 | Anticipated transactions
Economic - put options | USD | 60 |  | CAD | 74 |  | 2019-2020 | Anticipated transactions
Summary of key ratios | The following table provides a summary of our key ratios.
AT DECEMBER 31 | 2018 |  | 2017 |
Net debt leverage ratio | 2.72 |  | 2.67 |
Adjusted EBITDA to net interest expense ratio | 9.00 |  | 9.23 |
(1) | Our net debt leverage ratio represents net debt divided by adjusted EBITDA. We define net debt as debt due within one year plus long-term debt and 50% of preferred shares less cash and cash equivalents as shown in our statements of financial position. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as operating revenues less operating costs as shown in our income statements.
(2) | Our adjusted EBITDA to net interest expense ratio represents adjusted EBITDA divided by net interest expense. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as operating revenues less operating costs as shown in our income statements. Net interest expense is net interest expense as shown in our statements of cash flows and 50% of declared preferred share dividends as shown in our income statements.

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