Intangible assets and goodwill - Schedule of Goodwill (Details) - CAD CAD in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Goodwill beginning of the period	CAD 110,493	CAD 92,328
Business acquisitions	210,463	290
Foreign exchange	(14,315)	17,875
Goodwill end of the period	CAD 306,641	CAD 110,493

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64834752&loc=SL49117168-202975

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- Definition

Amount of increase in asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized resulting from a business combination.

+ References

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- Definition

Amount of foreign currency translation gain (loss) which increases (decreases) an asset representing future economic benefits from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

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- Definition

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

+ References

No definition available.

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