Translation, Terminology and Interpretation

A. Key Services

We’re here to help you meet your various language-related needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We translate specialized reports, extremely sensitive documents and tweets, and we review translations. We also provide other services, such as conference interpretation, language advice and the development of glossaries specific to your organization.

Translation and Other Linguistic Services

• Translation services in both official languages, in Canada's Aboriginal languages and in over 100 foreign languages PRIORITY SERVICE!
• Revision services, including professional evaluation and quality assurance
• Personalized services: translators on site, in your offices
• Translation in highly specialized fields: economics, law, environmental sciences, medicine, biology, engineering (civil, electrical, mechanical and industrial), IT, technology, social sciences and the humanities
• Secure handling of protected and classified documents
• Guarantee of quality and satisfaction with the service provided

Terminology

• Standardization of terminology in various public service fields and dissemination via TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
• Development of customized glossaries and vocabularies, and revision of glossaries and vocabularies produced by client departments and agencies
• Development and dissemination of products that improve the quality of communications in both official languages:
  • Language Portal of Canada, the first national website that showcases Canadian expertise in the language field
  • Linguistic Recommendations and Reminders
  • Bilingual and multilingual glossaries and vocabularies
  • Writing tools
• Answers to your terminology questions

Interpretation

• Interpretation services in official languages, in Canada's Aboriginal languages and in foreign languages at various events: intra- or inter-departmental conferences, federal-provincial-territorial minister's meetings, international summits, and bilateral or multilateral talks between heads of state or governments
• Visual interpretation services in American Sign Language (ASL) and in Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ)
• English and French lip-reading interpretation and deaf-blind tactile interpretation
• Interpretation services are also offered to Parliament with whom the Bureau has established service level agreements

Contact Centre Services

• General information on our products and services and your accounts and invoices
• Information on how to use the following:
  • On-Line Ordering System
  • TERMIUM Plus®
  • Language Portal of Canada

Client Relationship Management

• Effective engagement
• Reliable communications
• Monitoring client satisfaction
• Issues management
• Strategic planning and service agreements
• Program oversight

B. Featured Initiatives

Blueprint 2020 has inspired us to create a technology vision to better support clients with their bilingualism needs.

For that reason, we are optimizing our technology to make our services more convenient to clients by responding more quickly, ensuring quality products and doing all this at a lower cost.

Remote Interpretation NEW!

In October 2014, we launched a pilot for remote interpretation to provide official languages, multilingual or sign language interpretation from a distance and in real time—anywhere and anytime—thanks to Internet-based phone and videoconferencing technology.

We want to offer this service across Government to accommodate everything from day-to-day business meetings, internal government conferences and learning events, to citizen-focused service delivery and public consultations.

Benefits

• Encourage bilingualism and compliance with official languages requirements
• Reduce travel costs for interpreters and eliminate costs for rental and installation of interpretation booths
• Ensure immediate business needs can be met with little planning
• Provide portable mobile solutions
• Increase reach for regional, remote, and international (multilingual) offices

Government of Canada (GC) Translation NEW!

We have designed a new e-service interface—GC Translation—to make ordering faster and easier for translation or translation and comparative revision for a single general document in either official language (English or French).

GC Translation has:

• a shorter form
• an automatically generated cost estimate
• a choice of deadlines
• a copy-and-paste option for short texts

Fully Managed Service NEW!

We are piloting a new service management concept across the organization to expand our current role as a centre of excellence in translation by offering a full service management option to departments and agencies that are prepared to obtain all their translation services needs from one common centre.

C. What's coming

Machine Translation

In collaboration with the National Research Council, we are exploring a machine translation tool for a pilot project.

Ideally this tool would be available for all Government of Canada desktops. It would allow for quick translation of short texts and help with second language comprehension.

Benefits

• Reduce the need for and costs associated with human translation of unprotected internal administrative documents such as memos and presentations
• Promote greater use of both official languages in the workplace

We are also planning integration of the translation functionality to Government of Canada content management platforms (e.g., GCdocs).

GC Translation

PWGSC has designed a new electronic service to facilitate ordering translation or translation and comparative revision services for a single general document in either official language.

Benefits:

• Ability to automatically generate a cost estimate, and
• Provide, in real-time, a realistic deadline by which the translation will be completed and returned to the client.

The tool, currently in pilot version at Simplified Service Request – WITH REAL-TIME INFORMATION!, will be available online to all users by fall 2015 – Stay tuned!

D. Ensuring Value for Money

Lower rates

We are committed to providing clients with services that are more efficient and at a lower cost. Therefore, during the 2015-2016 fiscal year, we will return $6M in reduced charges for high-volume clients. SAVINGS!

• Revision rates reduced by 5% for official languages
• For high-volume clients, reduced rates by an average of 5% (and up to 10% in some cases) for official language translation services and linguistic services
• Maintaining the business volume discount: eligible clients will see their official language translation rates reduced to $65 per hour

Why choose the Translation Bureau?

• Our services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24/7).
• We ensure the utmost confidentiality when processing your protected and classified documents: the Bureau has custom-built secure rooms for just this purpose.
  You can even send these documents electronically!
• A Canada-wide network of language experts in specialized fields. We’re available to help in:
  • Economics and law
  • Environmental science and biology
  • Industrial engineering
  • IT
  • Civil, electrical and mechanical engineering
  • Medicine and technology
  • Humanities
• One of the biggest term banks in the world: over four million terms. Created and kept up to date by our team of terminologists, TERMIUM Plus® is a large reservoir of corporate memory that helps in the standardization of terminology within the Government of Canada.
• 100% quality guarantee: if you are not fully satisfied, we will re-do the work at no cost to you.
• Peace of mind: Because you know that the best language experts will be meeting your needs.

Tips to keep your translation costs down

• Plan your translation ahead of time: A 35% rush premium applies when the request deadline is less than 24 hours or when service delivery requires work outside of regular office hours.
• Bundle your short requests since the minimum period for paid services is 1 hour.
• Even if your request is out of the ordinary, all you have to do is provide your special instructions. For example:
  • Sometimes all you need is a summary.
  • We can also translate your document orally, by telephone or in person.
  • We can even customize your message for specific audiences.

E. Service Standards and Results

In 2014-2015, we have exceeded 6 of our 7 targets for translation, terminology and interpretation services. To enhance customer satisfaction, we have put forward new service standards, which reflect our staff’s commitment to excellent client service.

In 2015-2016, to better serve you, we will continue bringing forward innovation initiatives, as well as taking steps to continuously improve our services and client experience.

Table Summary

The Table on Service Standards and Targets for the Translation, Terminology, and Interpretation service category shows service targets for 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 for the following services: Translation and other linguistic services; Terminology standardization services; Interpretation; Client Contact Centre services; Client relationship management.

Translation, Terminology and Interpretation	Target 2014-2015	Results 2014-2015	Target 2015-2016
Translation and Linguistic Services
Meet the agreed-upon delivery deadline of each project as defined in the service requests	95%	95.4% Table footnote **	N/A (Replaced by other service standard(s))
Deliver each translation request within the deadline Table footnote * NEW!	N/A	N/A	95%
Acknowledge translation request and confirm deadline within one business day NEW!	N/A	N/A	95%
Maintain the price per word for translation services at 0,40$ or less annually NEW!	N/A	N/A	100%
Percentage of clients satisfied with translation services NEW!	N/A	N/A	85%
Terminology Standardization Services
Respond to terminology queries and requests within 1 business day	95%	96.3% Table footnote **	N/A (Replaced by other service standard(s))
Acknowledge terminology requests and confirm deadline within one business day NEW!	N/A	N/A	95%
Post terminological fiches in TERMIUM Plus®, without errors  i.e. in compliance with standards and methodological procedures in use at the Translation Bureau	95%	97.4% Table footnote **	95%
Client Contact Centre Services
During business hours, acknowledge receipt of e-mails received in the Translation Bureau's inbox and return missed calls (voicemail messages) before close of business (5:00 p.m. ET) on the day received	95%	85%	N/A (Replaced by other service standard(s))
Interpretation
Provide interpretation services for all requests that qualify under the Translation Bureau’s mandate.	95%	98.9% Table footnote **	N/A (Replaced by other service standard(s))
Deliver each interpretation request to meet specific event needs NEW!	N/A	N/A	95%
Acknowledge interpretation requests within one business day NEW!	N/A	N/A	95%
Percentage of clients satisfied with interpretation services NEW!	N/A	N/A	85%
Client Relationship Management
Acknowledge clients’ inquiries within 1 business day	95%	99% Table footnote **	95%
Respond to clients’ inquiries within 3 business days	95%	99% Table footnote **	95%

If you are a government client and would like to obtain the results on service standards for your own department (when such information is available), please contact the Translation Bureau.

We take our service commitments very seriously. If you have any concerns related to our service standards or have any suggestions on how we can improve, feel free to contact us at SIS@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca.

F. Addressing Shortcomings and Client Issues to Increase Satisfaction

Client satisfaction is the priority for the Translation Bureau

We are attentive to the needs of our clients.  We closely monitor our client’s comments and feedback which are reviewed to help us find ways to improve their overall experience with us.  The following is an example of how we manage these comments:

• In response to a client's concerns regarding the quality of our services, we are now holding a meeting with key stakeholders at least once a month.  We have also established a Quality Enhancement Committee whose membership includes staff members of the Translation Bureau and the clients.
• We have already experienced positive progress, and the Bureau continues to make every effort to improve this situation.  To further enhance our services where there are any shortcomings, we are considering the possibility of deploying an on-site manager for these clients.

G. How satisfied are you?

We invite our clients to share their comments through its ongoing “Your opinion” survey found on the translation services website. The following results were compiled between September 2014 and March 2015:

• 86% overall satisfaction with the translation services provided by the Bureau
• 78% satisfaction with quality of translation services
• 86% delivery within agreed timeframe

Source: Ongoing client satisfaction survey (Your opinion)

H. For more information on Our Translation, Terminology and Interpretation Services

• Web: Translation, Terminology and Interpretation
• Email: Bureaudelatraduction.TranslationBureau@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca
• Phone: 819-997-3300
• Request Our Services Online