Description of business and Basis of presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of presentation

On April 14, 2023, Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (“CPRL" or "CP") assumed control of Kansas City Southern ("KCS") (through an indirect wholly owned subsidiary), and filed articles of amendment to change CPRL's name to Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited ("CPKC"). CPKC owns and operates the only freight railway spanning Canada, the United States ("U.S."), and Mexico. CPKC provides rail and intermodal transportation services over a network of approximately 20,000 miles, directly serving principal business centres of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

These unaudited Interim Consolidated Financial Statements ("Interim Consolidated Financial Statements") do not include KCS and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis but continue to account for KCS using the equity method while the outstanding shares of KCS were held in a voting trust (see Notes 8, 9 and 15). These Interim Consolidated Financial Statements of CPKC and its subsidiaries (collectively, “CPKC”, or “the Company”), expressed in Canadian dollars, reflect management’s estimates and assumptions that are necessary for their fair presentation in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”). They do not include all disclosures required under GAAP for annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the 2022 annual Consolidated Financial Statements and notes included in CPRL's 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The accounting policies used are consistent with the accounting policies used in preparing CPRL’s 2022 annual Consolidated Financial Statements except as discussed in Note 2.

In these Interim Consolidated Financial Statements, unless the context indicates otherwise, references to "CPKC", “the Company”, “we”, “our”, or “us” are to Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited and its subsidiaries prior to April 14, 2023, at which time KCS was held as an equity investment accounted for by the equity method of accounting. On and from April 14, 2023, KCS became a consolidated subsidiary of CPKC.

The Company's operations can be affected by seasonal fluctuations such as changes in customer demand and weather-related issues. This seasonality could impact quarter-over-quarter comparisons.

In management’s opinion, the Interim Consolidated Financial Statements include all adjustments (consisting of normal and recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly such information. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the fiscal year.

Accounting changes, Implemented in 2023 and Future changes

Implemented in 2023

On January 1, 2023, the Company adopted the new Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2021-08, issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), and all related amendments under FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”), Topic 805, Business Combinations, Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers in anticipation of obtaining effective control of KCS. The amendment introduces the requirement for an acquirer to recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities acquired in a business combination in accordance with the requirements of FASB ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, rather than at fair value. The Company assumed control of KCS (through an indirect wholly owned subsidiary) on April 14, 2023. This update will be applied prospectively to contract assets and liabilities within the scope of this amendment, which includes any contract assets and liabilities of KCS that will be recorded in the purchase price allocation. The adoption of this update will not have a material impact to the Company's financial statements. See Note 15 for further discussion on the Company's acquisition of KCS.

All other accounting pronouncements that became effective during the period covered by the Interim Consolidated Financial Statements did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial statements and related disclosures.

Future changes

All accounting pronouncements recently issued, but not effective until after March 31, 2023, have been assessed and are not expected to have a material impact on the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.