What is the test for determining whether a plaintiff’s earning capacity will be impaired by the injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident?

The trial judge first addressed the question of whether the plaintiff’s earning capacity had been impaired to any degree by the injuries caused by the accident. She referred to Athey v. Leonati, 1996 CanLII 183 (SCC), [1996] 3 S.C.R. 458, 140 D.L.R. (4th) 235 at para. 27, for the proposition that a future or hypothetical possibility will be taken into consideration as long as it is a real and substantial possibility and not mere speculation. She also referred to Sinnott v. Boggs, 2007 BCCA 267, 69 B.C.L.R. (4th) 276, which she considered to be of particular assistance because it also involved a young person not yet settled into a career. The judge concluded that a loss of future earning capacity had been proven by the plaintiff.