The Income Damages Calculator (IDC) provides the following features:
Click on any of the links below to expand the text.The Income Damages Calculator is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and provides an alternative for those situations that do not immediately require a "court-ready" report or the direct involvement of a forensic economist.
The PDF reports generated by the Income Damages Calculator are similar to forensic-prepared reports that use statistical averages, but the IDC generated reports can be done in accordance with your timeline and are generally much less expensive than the equivalent forensic-prepared reports.
The data, contingencies and calculations are provided by Brown Economic Consulting Inc. whose expertise has been accepted in Canadian courts on numerous occasions.
If you don't know the income or contingencies for a particular occupation, you can select "Use Industry Data". The IDC industry data base elevates it far beyond a present value calculator or slide rule multiplier. The IDC industry data base allows the user to select wages for the plaintiff that reflects his/her without-incident earning capacity based on his/her measurable human capital characteristics (age, gender, province, education, occupation) and then does the same thing with his/her with-incident options now that a disability may have set in. This data is not publicly available from Statistics Canada or any other source; it is tailored by these human capital characteristics and are as close as can be to matching the plaintiff or claimant to someone of the same age and gender in the same occupation with the same credentials. It is not publicly available for the precise reason that it is so tailored - few parties are interested in data so refined. The same is true for the data underlying the negative and positive contingencies, the growth rates, and the retirement age. All of these data have been carefully researched and culled to know which data sources to use, which ones not to use, and how to use them. At the stage of obtaining an approximate estimate, it replaces the judgment used by the forensic economist in matching the data to the person. It is as reliable as the "quick" reports produced by expert witnesses who select an NOC (national occupational classification code) to represent the plaintiff's earnings.
The IDC adjusts its inputs, calculations and outputs based on the province, date of incident and whether the claim is related to a motor vehicle accident.
For claims relating to a motor vehicle accident, the calculations are in accordance with the selected province's regulations.
Some provinces require the loss be calculated using after-tax, net income if the incident occurred after a certain date. Other provinces require the loss be calculated using before-tax, gross income when the incident occurred prior to the dates below, or in provinces not shown in Table 1. For claims relating to a motor vehicle accident, the Income Damages Calculator adjusts its calculations in accordance with the province specified and the date of incident. The following table summarizes the differences between the provincial legislation that are considered by the Income Damages Calculator for incidents occurring in after-tax jurisdictions.
Table 1: Comparison of Economic Loss Calculations in After-tax jurisdictions, Various Provinces in Canada| Province | Date Effective |
"Net" provisions applicable until date of trial only or thereafter? |
Income Tax Deducted? | CPP premiums deducted? | EI premiums deducted? |
Income continuation benefits deducted? |
| Alberta | Jan 26, 2004 | For entire loss period 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| British Columbia | Jun 17, 1997 | After the accident and before the first day of trial | Yes | No | Yes | Yes 2 |
| New Brunswick | Jan 1, 1997 | Between the date of the accident and the date of the judgment | Yes | No 3 | Yes 4 | Yes |
| Nova Scotia | Nov 1, 2003 5 | For entire loss period | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Newfoundland | Aug 1, 2004 6 | For entire loss period | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes7 |
| Ontario8 | Nov 1, 1996 to Aug 31, 2010 | 80% of net loss of earning capacity from the date of loss to the date of trial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ontario8 | Sep 1, 2010 | 70% of gross loss of earning capacity from the date of loss to the date of trial | No | No | No | Yes |
| Saskatchewan9 | Jan 1, 1995 | For entire loss period | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
If the claim does NOT relate to a motor vehicle accident, the loss is calculated using before-tax, gross income, regardless of the province or date of incident specified. The inputs requested and the report generated are automatically adjusted to reflect your selection.
You have the choice of purchasing a past loss report OR a past and future loss report. The fee charged will vary accordingly. You can also purchase a past loss report and, at a later date expand it into a past and future loss report (subject to an additional fee).
Each province has a unique system for pegging the interest rates used for pre-judgment interest (annually, quarterly, bi-annually), and for how to apply the rates (Saskatchewan being the most complicated), except for Nova Scotia (which is based on case law). We have researched each province's legislation and the case law in Nova Scotia to know which interest rate series the pre-judgment interest is based on, and how to apply it. Past losses are always enhanced by the addition of pre-judgment interest, which varies according to the year in which the loss occurs and whether it is a partial year.
Once you've purchased a report generated by the Income Damages Calculator, you can use the Income Damages Calculator to generate additional economic scenarios for that same claimant file at no additional charge. The additional scenarios for the purchased claimant file can be run at the time of purchase or within 1 year from the date of the initial purchase. In other words, after leaving the initial session, the user can return to the website and retrieve the claimant record using the order number and birthdate of the claimant until a year elapses from the initial purchase.
The report is presented to you as a formatted PDF file. You can save a copy of the report to your local drive and/or print the report immediately. The purchase receipt is emailed as a disbursement on the file.
In addition to the online help that is available on our website, you can Contact a staff member.