What is the test for assessing damages for loss of future income earning capacity?

With respect to an award for loss of future income earning capacity, the court must consider overall fairness and reasonableness, taking all the evidence into account. The process of assessing damages on the basis of hypothetical future events may be characterized as an art, as opposed to an exact science: Shapiro v. Dailey, 2012 BCCA 128 at para. 40.

A plaintiff is entitled to be compensated for real and substantial possibilities of loss, which are to be quantified by estimating the chance of the loss occurring. The valuation of loss of earning capacity may involve a comparison of what the plaintiff would probably have earned but for the Accident with what he will probably earn in his injured condition. Since the course of future events is unknown, allowance must be made for the contingency that the assumptions upon which the award is based may prove to be wrong: Reilly v. Lynn, 2003 BCCA 49 at para. 101.