Document and Entity Information - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Feb. 26, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2015
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
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		153,021,661
Entity Public Float			$ 23,580,095,732
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No