Share Capital - Additional Information (Detail)	0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended													12 Months Ended										0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Nov. 22, 2013 CAD	Jul. 29, 2013	Jul. 15, 2013 CAD Installment	Jun. 27, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 CAD	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2012 CAD	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 CAD	Jun. 24, 2013	Oct. 02, 2012	Sep. 26, 2012	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 16, 2010	Dec. 09, 2010	Dec. 31, 2013 Research and Development [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Research and Development [Member] USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2011 Research and Development [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Selling, General and Administrative [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Selling, General and Administrative [Member] USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2011 Selling, General and Administrative [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 25, 2013 Minimum [Member]	Apr. 25, 2013 Maximum [Member]	Nov. 22, 2013 Stock Options Vest In Six Installments[Member] Installment	Nov. 22, 2013 Stock Options Vest In Thirty Six Installments [Member] Installment	Nov. 09, 2013 RSU's [Member]	Jul. 15, 2013 RSU's [Member] CAD Installment	Dec. 31, 2013 RSU's [Member] CAD Installment	Dec. 31, 2013 RSU's [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 RSU's [Member] Research and Development [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 RSU's [Member] Selling, General and Administrative [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 15, 2013 Directors Deferred Share Units [Member] Installment	Dec. 31, 2013 QLT Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 QLT Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 QLT Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 QLT Plan [Member] Minimum [Member] CAD	Dec. 31, 2013 QLT Plan [Member] Maximum [Member] CAD
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Cash distribution approval date					Jun. 14, 2013	Jun. 14, 2013
Cash distribution record date					Jun. 24, 2013	Jun. 24, 2013
Total amount of cash distribution paid to shareholders of record				$ 200,000,000	$ 200,000,000
Distribution payment per share					$ 3.92
Common stock, shares outstanding					51,081,878	51,081,878	51,589,405		51,589,405			51,081,878
Number of issued and outstanding common shares authorized to be repurchased													3,438,683			3,615,285
Percentage of issued and outstanding common shares authorized to be repurchased														10.00%			10.00%
Number of issued and outstanding common shares repurchased					1,691,479	1,691,479	1,747,204		1,747,204	2,678,517	2,678,517
Total average cost per share of the share repurchase					$ 7.97		$ 7.84			$ 7.03
Total cumulative cost of shares repurchased					13,479,000		13,696,000			18,839,000
Additional paid-in capital					2,000,000		2,400,000			6,300,000
Number of shares of common stock available for grant under the Plan																										7,800,000	11,800,000										11,800,000
Additional common shares issued under Plan		4,000,000
Stock options that can be granted to any one individual in a calendar year					2,000,000	2,000,000
Description of options expiration																																					Options expire automatically on the earlier of (i) the date on which such option is exercised in respect of all of the common shares that may be purchased under the Plan, and (ii) the expiration date fixed by the Compensation Committee at the granting of such options, which date will not be more than ten years from the date of grant. Options that would otherwise expire within, or within two business days after the end of, a “black-out” period established by QLT will not expire until the tenth business day after the earlier of the end of such black-out period or, provided the black-out period has ended, the expiry date.
Maximum stock options expiration period																																					10 years
Condition under which expiration date is extended																																					2 days
Option extension period																																					10 days
Vested options termination period																																					90 days
Restricted stock, vesting period																																3 years					36 months
Restricted stock units vesting period expressed in number of annual installments																															3	3
Number of common shares to be received upon vesting of 1 RSU																															1		1
Plan termination date																																					Apr. 25, 2023
Number of stock options outstanding					1,407,529	1,407,529	1,416,016		1,416,016	6,048,197	6,048,197				6,100,101																						1,407,529
Range of exercise prices associated with outstanding options																																								4.54	7.23
Number of options issued and outstanding, percentage																																					2.80%	2.70%	12.00%
Stock options granted	350,000		962,000		1,312,000	1,312,000	889,250		889,250	1,430,900	1,430,900
Stock options vest and become exercisable																												325,000	25,000
Stock options vesting period expressed in number of monthly installments			36																									6	36
Exercise price of options granted	5.38		4.54			4.76			7.06		7.19
Weighted average grant date fair value of stock options granted						2.28			2.55		2.78
Unvested stock options					1,150,197	1,150,197	143,965		143,965	1,801,803	1,801,803
Stock related units granted																															48,000					88,000
Deferred share units vesting period expressed in number of monthly installments																																				36
Restricted stock units grant date fair value																															4.54	4.54
Stock based compensation expense					567,000		5,751,000	[1]		2,973,000								358,000	1,537,000	[1]	708,000	209,000	1,783,000	[1]	1,316,000									10,000	20,000
RSU's cancelled in connection with resignation of board of directors																														6,000
Restricted stock units, unvested																																	42,000
Estimated unrecognized compensation cost																																	$ 200,000
Expected weighted average period of compensation cost to be recognized					1 year 11 months 27 days	1 year 11 months 27 days																										2 years 6 months 15 days

[1] Approximately $4.3 million of the 2012 stock-based compensation expense relates to the accelerated vesting of 1,670,306 stock options in connection with the change in control resulting from the election of a new Board of the Directors at the Company's annual meeting of shareholders on June 4, 2012.