What is the test for an agreement to be binding between the parties?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Cutts v. Alterra Property Group Ltd., 2013 BCSC 1951 (CanLII):

It is a trite principle of law that in order for an agreement to be binding between the parties, they must have reached consensus on the essential terms of their contract. To be a good contract, there must be a concluded bargain, and a concluded contract is one which settles everything that is necessary to be settled and leaves nothing to be settled by agreement between the parties. What this means is that the parties must have evinced clear agreement on the essential terms of the intended contract. See Rana v. Nagra, 2011 BCCA 392, at para. 19

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