Risk Management Activities And Fair Value Measurements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Risk Management Activities And Fair Value Measurements [Abstract]

Risk Management Activities And Fair Value Measurements

9. Risk Management Activities and Fair Value Measurements

The Company is exposed to market risks, including the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates, and uses derivatives to manage financial exposures that occur in the normal course of business. The Company does not hold or issue derivatives for trading purposes.

Interest Rate Swaps

The Company is exposed to interest rate volatility with regard to existing variable rate debt. The Company had entered into variable-to-fixed interest rate swaps on variable rate term debt and revolving debt to limit its exposure to changing interest rates and future cash flows for interest. The interest rate swaps provided for the Company to pay an amount equal to a specified fixed rate of interest times a notional principal amount and to receive in return an amount equal to a variable rate of interest times the same notional amount. The swaps were accounted for as cash flow hedges. The effective portions of changes in fair value of the interest rate swaps were recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income and were recognized into income in the same year in which the hedged forecasted transaction affects income. Ineffective portions of changes in fair value are recognized into income as they occur. At March 31, 2012, there were no interest rate swaps outstanding.

Hedges of net investment in self-sustaining operations

United States dollar denominated debt of $0.2 million held by an entity with a Canadian dollar functional currency is designated as a hedge against the Company's exposure for a portion of its net investment in self-sustaining U.S. dollar denominated subsidiaries with a view to reducing the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations. The foreign exchange effect of both the U.S. dollar debt and the net investment in U.S. dollar denominated subsidiaries is reported in other comprehensive income. As at March 31, 2012, the Company's net investment in U.S. dollar denominated subsidiaries totalled $234.6 million. No ineffectiveness has been recorded in earnings as the notional amounts of the hedging item equals the portion of the net investment balance being hedged.

Financial Instruments

The fair values of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate their carrying values because of the short-term nature of these financial instruments. The fair value of the Company's long-term debt, determined based on the future cash flows associated with each debt instrument discounted using an estimate of the Company's current borrowing rate for similar debt instruments of comparable maturity, is approximately equal to their carrying value at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011.

FASB ASC 820-10-05 establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurement). The fair value of the Company's cash and cash equivalents and long-term debt are classified as Level 1 and Level 2, respectively.