Allowance for Credit Losses and Recorded Investment in Commercial Mortgage Loans (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Losses [Line Items]
Beginning balance	$ 26
Ending balance	22	$ 26
Allowance for Credit Losses
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Losses [Line Items]
Beginning balance	26	31	$ 13
Cumulative effect of change in accounting	0	0	16
Provision	(5)	3	2
Write-offs	0	(8)	0
Recoveries	1	0	0
Ending balance	$ 22	$ 26	$ 31

Allowance for loan and lease losses cumulative effect of change in accounting.

No definition available.

Name:	gnw_AllowanceForLoanAndLeaseLossesCumulativeEffectOfChangeInAccounting
Namespace Prefix:	gnw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of recovery of loans and lease receivables which had previously been fully or partially written-off as bad debts.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 11B
-Subparagraph (c)(4)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123577603&loc=SL6953423-111524

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The reserve to cover probable credit losses related to specifically identified fixed maturity real estate loans as well as probable credit losses inherent in the remainder of that loan portfolio.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 310
-Section 45
-Paragraph 4
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123605502&loc=d3e21338-158488

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of loans and leases that have been written off from both loan receivables and allowance reserve for credit loss.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 11B
-Subparagraph (c)(3)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123577603&loc=SL6953423-111524

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
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- Definition

Amount of expense related to estimated loss from loan and lease transactions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=126954810&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 220
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-04.11)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120399700&loc=SL114874048-224260

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 11B
-Subparagraph (c)(2)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123577603&loc=SL6953423-111524

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Balance Type:
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