What is a non-pecuniary award for pain and suffering?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Wright v. Mistry, 2017 BCSC 239 (CanLII):
A non-pecuniary award is given to compensate a plaintiff for pain and suffering a defendant has caused them. Mr. Justice Dickson set out the oft-quoted approach to these awards in Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alberta Ltd., 1978 CanLII 1 (SCC), [1978] 2 S.C.R. 229 at 261: There is no medium of exchange for happiness. There is no market for expectation of life. The monetary evaluation of non-pecuniary losses is a philosophical and policy exercise more than a legal or logical one. The award must be fair and reasonable, fairness being gauged by earlier decisions; but the award must also of necessity be arbitrary or conventional. No money can provide true restitution.
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