Tabular disclosure of net income by geographic areas attributed to the entity's country of domicile and to foreign countries.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	cni_InformationByGeographicAreaNetIncomeTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	cni_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of long-lived assets, excluding financial instruments, long-term customer relationships of a financial institution, mortgage rights, deferred policy acquisition costs, and deferred tax assets, by geographic areas located in the entity's country of domicile and foreign countries in which the entity holds assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 41
-Subparagraph b
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115929826&loc=d3e9038-108599

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongLivedAssetsByGeographicAreasTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of revenue from external customers by geographic areas attributed to the entity's country of domicile and to foreign countries from which the entity derives revenue.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 41
-Subparagraph a
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115929826&loc=d3e9038-108599

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RevenueFromExternalCustomersByGeographicAreasTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SegmentReportingAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration