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Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Notes To Financial Statements [Abstract]

17 – Financial instruments

Risk management

In the normal course of business, the Company is exposed to various risks from its use of financial instruments. To manage these risks, the Company follows a financial risk management framework, which is monitored and approved by the Company's Finance Committee, with a goal of maintaining a strong balance sheet, optimizing earnings per share and free cash flow, financing its operations at an optimal cost of capital and preserving its liquidity. The Company has limited involvement with derivative financial instruments in the management of its risks and does not hold or issue them for trading or speculative purposes.

Foreign currency risk

The Company conducts its business in both Canada and the U.S. and as a result, is affected by currency fluctuations. Changes in the exchange rate between the Canadian dollar and other currencies affect the Company's revenues and expenses.

To manage foreign currency risk, the Company:

designates US dollar-denominated long-term debt of the parent company as a foreign currency hedge of its net investment in U.S. subsidiaries. As a result, from the dates of designation, foreign exchange gains and losses on translation of the Company's US dollar-denominated long-term debt are recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive loss, which minimizes volatility of earnings resulting from the conversion of US dollar-denominated long-term debt into the Canadian dollar; and
enters into foreign exchange contracts as part of its cash management strategy.

As at December 31, 2014, the Company had outstanding foreign exchange forward contracts with a notional value of US$350 million (US$325 million as at December 31, 2013). Changes in the fair value of forward contracts, resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates, are recognized in Other income in the Consolidated Statement of Income as they occur. For the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company recorded a gain of $9 million ($6 million in 2013), before tax, related to the fair value of the foreign exchange forward contracts. As at December 31, 2014 and 2013, the Company did not have any other significant derivative financial instruments outstanding.

Interest rate risk

The Company is exposed to interest rate risk, which is the risk that the fair value or future cash flows of a financial instrument will vary as a result of changes in market interest rates. Such risk exists in relation to the Company's long-term debt. The Company mainly issues fixed-rate debt, which exposes the Company to variability in the fair value of the debt. The Company also issues debt with variable interest rates, which exposes the Company to variability in interest expense.

To manage interest rate risk, the Company:

manages its borrowings in line with liquidity needs, maturity schedule, and currency and interest rate profile; and
in anticipation of future debt issuances, may enter into forward rate agreements.

As at December 31, 2014, Accumulated other comprehensive loss included an unamortized gain of $7 million, $5 million after-tax ($8 million, $6 million after-tax as at December 31, 2013) relating to treasury lock transactions settled in a prior year, which is being amortized over the term of the related debt.

Fair value of financial instruments

For financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis, fair value is the price the Company would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction with a market participant at the measurement date. In the absence of active markets for identical assets or liabilities, such measurements involve developing assumptions based on market observable data and, in the absence of such data, internal information that is believed to be consistent with what market participants would use in a hypothetical transaction that occurs at the measurement date. Observable inputs reflect market data obtained from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect the Company's market assumptions. Preference is given to observable inputs. These two types of inputs create the following fair value hierarchy:

Level 1: Quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets.

Level 2: Quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations whose inputs are observable or whose significant value drivers are observable.

Level 3: Significant inputs to the valuation model are unobservable.

The Company uses the following methods and assumptions to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instruments for which the carrying amounts are included in the Consolidated Balance Sheet under the following captions:

Cash and cash equivalents, Restricted cash and cash equivalents, Accounts receivable, Other current assets, Accounts payable and other

The carrying amounts approximate fair value because of the short maturity of these instruments. Cash and cash equivalents and Restricted cash and cash equivalents include highly liquid investments purchased three months or less from maturity and are classified as Level 1. Accounts receivable, Other current assets, and Accounts payable and other are classified as Level 2 as they may not be priced using quoted prices, but rather determined from market observable information.

Intangible and other assets

Included in Intangible and other assets are equity investments for which the carrying value approximates the fair value, with the exception of certain cost investments for which the fair value is estimated based on the Company's proportionate share of the underlying net assets. Investments are classified as Level 3 as their fair value is based on significant unobservable inputs.

Debt

The fair value of the Company's debt is estimated based on the quoted market prices for the same or similar debt instruments, as well as discounted cash flows using current interest rates for debt with similar terms, company rating, and remaining maturity. The Company's debt is classified as Level 2.

The following table provides the carrying amounts and estimated fair values of the Company's financial instruments as at December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013 for which the carrying values on the Consolidated Balance Sheet are different from their fair values:

In millions		December 31, 2014				December 31, 2013
		Carrying		Fair		Carrying		Fair
		amount		value		amount		value
Financial assets
Investments (Note 8)	$	58	$	183	$	57	$	164
Financial liabilities
Total debt (Note 10)	$	8,409	$	9,767	$	7,840	$	8,683

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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