Does a plaintiff have an obligation to receive treatment to reduce their damages?

A plaintiff has an obligation to take all reasonable measures to reduce their damages, including undergoing treatment to alleviate or cure injuries: Danicek v. Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang, 2010 BCSC 1111 at para. 234.

The duty to mitigate is a positive duty. However, if a defendant’s position is that the plaintiff could reasonably have avoided some part of the loss, the defendant bears the onus of proof on that issue: Graham v. Rogers, 2001 BCCA 432 at para. 35.

A defendant who wishes to establish that a plaintiff has failed to mitigate their loss must prove two things: a) that the plaintiff acted unreasonably in eschewing the recommended treatment; and b) the extent, if any, to which the plaintiff’s damages would have been reduced had they acted reasonably: Chiu v. Chiu, 2002 BCCA 618 [Chiu] at para. 57.