Document and Entity Information - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Feb. 14, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	CP
Entity Registrant Name	CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD/CN
Entity Central Index Key	0000016875
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		146,366,093
Entity Public Float			$ 17,823,874,921
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No