In the normal course of business, the Company is exposed to various risks such as customer credit risk, commodity price risk, interest rate risk, foreign currency risk, and liquidity risk. To manage these risks, the Company follows a financial risk management framework, which is monitored and approved by the Company's Finance Committee, with a goal of maintaining a strong balance sheet, optimizing earnings per share and free cash flow, financing its operations at an optimal cost of capital and preserving its liquidity. The Company has limited involvement with derivative financial instruments in the management of its risks and does not use them for trading purposes. At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company did not have any significant derivative financial instruments outstanding.

In the normal course of business, the Company monitors the financial condition and credit limits of its customers and reviews the credit history of each new customer. Although the Company believes there are no significant concentrations of credit risk, economic conditions can affect the Company's customers and can result in an increase to the Company's credit risk and exposure to business failures of its customers. To manage its credit risk, on an ongoing basis, the Company's focus is on keeping the average daily sales outstanding within an acceptable range and working with customers to ensure timely payments, and in certain cases, requiring financial security, including letters of credit.

The Company is exposed to commodity price risk related to purchases of fuel and the potential reduction in net income due to increases in the price of diesel. The impact of variable fuel expense is mitigated substantially through the Company's fuel surcharge program which apportions incremental changes in fuel prices to shippers within agreed upon guidelines. While this program provides effective coverage, residual exposure remains given that fuel price risk cannot be completely mitigated due to timing and given the volatility in the market. As such, the Company may enter into derivative instruments to mitigate such risk when considered appropriate.

The Company is exposed to interest rate risk, which is the risk that the fair value or future cash flows of a financial instrument will vary as a result of changes in market interest rates.

Such risk exists in relation to the Company's pension and postretirement plans and to its long-term debt. Overall return in the capital markets and the level of interest rates affect the funded status of the Company's pension plans, particularly the Company's main Canadian pension plan. Adverse changes with respect to pension plan returns and the level of interest rates from the date of the last actuarial valuations may have a material adverse effect on the funded status of the plans and on the Company's results of operations.

The Company mainly issues fixed-rate debt, which exposes the Company to variability in the fair value of the debt. The Company also issues debt with variable interest rates which exposes the Company to variability in interest expense. To manage its interest rate exposure, the Company manages its borrowings in line with liquidity needs, maturity schedule, and currency and interest rate profile. In anticipation of future debt issuances, the Company may enter into forward rate agreements. The Company does not currently hold any significant derivative financial instruments to manage its interest rate risk. At December 31, 2013, Accumulated other comprehensive loss included an unamortized gain of $8 million, $6 million after-tax ($8 million, $6 million after-tax at December 31, 2012) relating to treasury lock transactions settled in a prior year, which are being amortized over the term of the related debt.

The Company conducts its business in both Canada and the U.S. and as a result, is affected by currency fluctuations. Changes in the exchange rate between the Canadian dollar and other currencies (including the US dollar) make the goods transported by the Company more or less competitive in the world marketplace and thereby further affect the Company's revenues and expenses.

All of the Company's U.S. operations are self-contained foreign entities with the US dollar as their functional currency. Accordingly, the U.S. operations' assets and liabilities are translated into Canadian dollars at the rate in effect at the balance sheet date and the revenues and expenses are translated at average exchange rates during the year. All adjustments resulting from the translation of the foreign operations are recorded in Other comprehensive income (loss). For the purpose of minimizing volatility of earnings resulting from the conversion of US dollar-denominated long-term debt into the Canadian dollar, the Company designates the US dollar-denominated long-term debt of the parent company as a foreign currency hedge of its net investment in U.S. subsidiaries. As a result, from the dates of designation, foreign exchange gains and losses on translation of the Company's US dollar-denominated long-term debt are recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive loss.

Occasionally, the Company enters into short-term foreign exchange contracts as part of its cash management strategy. The Company does not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. Changes in the fair value of forward contracts, resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates, are recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Income as they occur. As at December 31, 2013, a gain of $6 million, before tax, related to the fair value of the foreign exchange forward contracts of US$325 million, was recorded in Other income on the Consolidated Statement of Income.

The Company monitors and manages its cash requirements to ensure sufficient access to funds to meet operational and investing requirements. The Company pursues a solid financial policy framework with the goal of maintaining a strong balance sheet, by monitoring its adjusted debt-to-total capitalization ratio and its adjusted debt-to-adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) multiple, and preserving an investment grade credit rating to be able to maintain access to public financing.

The Company's principal source of liquidity is cash generated from operations, which is supplemented by its commercial paper program to meet short-term liquidity needs. If the Company were to lose access to the program for an extended period of time, the Company could rely on its $800 million revolving credit facility. The Company's primary uses of funds are for working capital requirements, including income tax installments as they become due and pension contributions, contractual obligations, capital expenditures relating to track infrastructure and other, acquisitions, dividend payouts, and the repurchase of shares through a share buyback program, when applicable. The Company sets priorities on its uses of available funds based on short-term operational requirements, expenditures to maintain a safe railway and strategic initiatives, while also considering its long-term contractual obligations and returning value to its shareholders.

For financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis, fair value is the price the Company would receive to sell an asset or pay to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction with a market participant at the measurement date. In the absence of active markets for identical assets or liabilities, such measurements involve developing assumptions based on market observable data and, in the absence of such data, internal information that is believed to be consistent with what market participants would use in a hypothetical transaction that occurs at the measurement date. Observable inputs reflect market data obtained from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect the Company's market assumptions. Preference is given to observable inputs. These two types of inputs create the following fair value hierarchy:

Level 2: Quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations whose inputs are observable or whose significant value drivers are observable.

The Company uses the following methods and assumptions to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instruments for which the carrying amounts are included in the Consolidated Balance Sheet under the following captions:

(i) Cash and cash equivalents, Restricted cash and cash equivalents, Accounts receivable, Other current assets, Accounts payable and other:

The carrying amounts approximate fair value because of the short maturity of these instruments. Cash and cash equivalents and Restricted cash and cash equivalents include highly liquid investments purchased three months or less from maturity and are classified as Level 1. Accounts receivable, Other current assets, and Accounts payable and other are classified as Level 2 as they may not be priced using quoted prices, but rather determined from market observable information.

Included in Intangible and other assets are equity investments for which the carrying value approximates the fair value, with the exception of certain cost investments for which the fair value is estimated based on the Company's proportionate share of the underlying net assets. Investments are classified as Level 3 as their fair value is based on significant unobservable inputs.

The fair value of the Company's debt is estimated based on the quoted market prices for the same or similar debt instruments, as well as discounted cash flows using current interest rates for debt with similar terms, company rating, and remaining maturity. The Company's debt is classified as Level 2.

The following table provides the carrying amounts and estimated fair values of the Company's financial instruments as at December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012 for which the carrying values on the Consolidated Balance Sheet are different from their fair values:

In millions			December 31, 2013				December 31, 2012
			Carrying		Fair		Carrying		Fair
			amount		value		amount		value
Financial assets
	Investments (Note 5)	$	57	$	164	$	30	$	125
Financial liabilities
	Total debt (Note 8)	$	7,840	$	8,683	$	6,900	$	8,379