Income taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign [Table Text Block]

The components of loss before income taxes consist of the following:

	2016		2015
Canadian	$	(13,602)	$	(11,574)
Foreign		(5,865)		(12,899)
Loss before income taxes	$	(19,467)	$	(24,473)

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation [Table Text Block]

The reconciliation of income tax computed at statutory tax rates to income tax expense (recovery), using a 26.0% (2015 – 26.0%) statutory tax rate, is:

	December 31,			December 31,
	2016			2015
Loss before income taxes	$	(19,467)		$	(24,473)
Statutory tax rate		26.0	%		26.0	%
Income tax recovery at Canadian statutory income tax rates	$	(5,061)		$	(6,363)
Change in valuation allowance		4,197			4,290
Permanent differences		343			447
Tax rate differences		450			291
Foreign exchange and other differences		223			1,324
Income tax expense (recovery)	$	152		$	(11)

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Table Text Block]

Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets are shown below:

	December 31,		December 31,
	2016		2015
Deferred tax assets:
Tax loss carryforwards	$	80,963	$	76,694
Research and development deductions and investment tax credits		27,709		29,116
Tax values of depreciable assets in excess of accounting values		3,230		2,773
Share issue costs and other		1,413		544
Total deferred tax assets		113,315		109,127
Valuation allowance		(112,855)		(108,658)
Net deferred tax assets	$	460	$	469

Investment Tax Credits and Non-Capital Losses [Table Text Block]

The Company’s Canadian federal and provincial investment tax credits and non-capital losses for income tax purposes expire as follows:

	Investment		Non-capital
	tax credits		losses
2017	$	975	$	-
2018		145		-
2019		501		3,384
2020		481		34,506
2021		528		6,478
Thereafter until 2035		13,882		283,087
	$	16,512	$	327,455