What is the test for loss of opportunity to bid on a contract?

In Smith v. Knudsen, 2004 BCCA 613, 33 B.C.L.R. (4th) 76 the British Columbia Court of Appeal was considering a situation where a plaintiff was claiming for loss of opportunity to be a successful bidder on a contract due to injuries which made him unable to submit a bid. In considering the appropriate jury charge in this situation, Rowles, J. stated at paras. 36 and 37: In the case before us, there was a body of evidence which was capable of supporting a finding that the appellant's ability to prepare the necessary material for the bid on the ambulance contract was impaired by his injuries and by the medications he was taking for those injuries. However, a causal connection must be established between the accident and pecuniary loss claimed, and that causal connection must be established on the balance of probabilities. In other words, to succeed in the claim, the appellant would have to establish, on the balance of probabilities, that the injuries he sustained in the accident impaired his ability to prepare or marshal the documents required for the contract bid. The jury ought to have been instructed that if they were satisfied on a balance of probabilities that the injuries sustained as a result of the accident caused such an impairment, they had to go on to assess the chances of the appellant having been the successful bidder on the ambulance contract and to make an award using that assessment. iii. Analysis