Contingent Consideration	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Contingent Consideration [Abstract]
CONTINGENT CONSIDERATION	9. CONTINGENT CONSIDERATION On October 1, 2009, we divested the Eligard^® product line as part of the sale of all of the shares of our U.S. subsidiary, QLT USA, to Tolmar for up to an aggregate $230.0 million plus cash on hand of $118.3 million. Pursuant to the stock purchase agreement, we received $20.0 million on closing and $10.0 million on October 1, 2010 and expect to receive up to an additional $200.0 million payable on a quarterly basis in amounts equal to 80% of the royalties paid under the license agreement with Sanofi Synthelabo Inc. (“Sanofi”) for the commercial marketing of Eligard in the U.S. and Canada, and the license agreement with MediGene Aktiengesellschaft (“MediGene”) which, effective March 1, 2011, has been assigned to Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. (“Astellas”) for the commercial marketing of Eligard in Europe. The estimated fair value of these expected future quarterly payments is reflected as Contingent Consideration on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. We are entitled to these payments until the earlier of our receipt of the additional $200.0 million or October 1, 2024. As of September 30, 2011, we had received an aggregate $74.0 million of contingent consideration. We expect to receive the remaining $126.0 million on a quarterly basis, over the next three to four years. The contingent consideration payments are not generated from a migration or continuation of activities and therefore are not direct cash flows of the divested business. We have not had any continuing involvement with this business following its sale. See Note 11 — Financial Instruments and Concentration of Credit Risk.

9. CONTINGENT CONSIDERATION

On October 1, 2009, we divested the Eligard^® product line as part of the sale of all of the shares of our U.S. subsidiary, QLT USA, to Tolmar for up to an aggregate $230.0 million plus cash on hand of $118.3 million. Pursuant to the stock purchase agreement, we received $20.0 million on closing and $10.0 million on October 1, 2010 and expect to receive up to an additional $200.0 million payable on a quarterly basis in amounts equal to 80% of the royalties paid under the license agreement with Sanofi Synthelabo Inc. (“Sanofi”) for the commercial marketing of Eligard in the U.S. and Canada, and the license agreement with MediGene Aktiengesellschaft (“MediGene”) which, effective March 1, 2011, has been assigned to Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. (“Astellas”) for the commercial marketing of Eligard in Europe. The estimated fair value of these expected future quarterly payments is reflected as Contingent Consideration on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. We are entitled to these payments until the earlier of our receipt of the additional $200.0 million or October 1, 2024. As of September 30, 2011, we had received an aggregate $74.0 million of contingent consideration. We expect to receive the remaining $126.0 million on a quarterly basis, over the next three to four years. The contingent consideration payments are not generated from a migration or continuation of activities and therefore are not direct cash flows of the divested business. We have not had any continuing involvement with this business following its sale. See Note 11 — Financial Instruments and Concentration of Credit Risk.