Translating Mother Nature

Living in Canada means experiencing the cycle of the seasons with the pleasures that Mother Nature offers us ... and the surprises she has in store for us! It's no coincidence that the weather occupies a large place in our conversations, our news reports and our mobile devices.

But did you know it's Public Services and Procurement Canada's (PSPC) Translation Bureau that translates the federal government's weather reports and alerts for all of Canada?

The Translation Bureau has been working with the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) for almost 50 years. It's an "unparalleled collaboration," according to Geneviève Gravel, head of the weather report translation team, who has been working at the Bureau since 2008.

"The Official Languages Act requires the publication of weather alerts and reports in both French and English at the same time," explains Geneviève. To illustrate the work of this team, of which she has been a member for 15 years, she uses the example of the red band that appears in mobile applications when an alert is in effect. "That red band comes from us; it's the work of our team. More specifically, the meteorologists write the alert, we translate it, and then the notification appears on people's phones."

For Anne-Sophie Antoine, a translator since 2008 and a member of the team since 2019, technology plays a fundamental role in this work. "Without it, we wouldn't be able to translate the alerts so quickly. On average, we translate a bulletin in less than 5 minutes, and a bulletin has about 80 words. It would take much longer without technology."

Geneviève adds, "I'm thinking of the record day on December 24, 2022. The team received and processed 440 reports for a total of more than 33,000 words. The translator on duty therefore processed some 11,000 words during his shift. Without technology, this workload would have been insurmountable."

The Translation Bureau became a pioneer of machine translation in the field of meteorology in 1977. The similarity of the wording of weather reports makes it easier for a machine to translate them, under the watchful eye of the translators, of course!

The machine translation tool used by the team has evolved over time. The current version, powered by artificial intelligence, is based on the bulletins translated by the team over the past 20 years. This makes it a highly specific tool, fed by high-quality data. "This is what allows us to optimize results and increase our efficiency," explains Geneviève.

The operation is simple and fluid, since the tool is connected directly to the MSC system. As soon as a report is ready, the tool proposes a translation, which is revised by the team, returned to the MSC and distributed in both official languages on various MSC platforms, such as meteo.gc.ca and the MétéoCAN application. The whole process takes just a few minutes. As Geneviève says: "The integration of our tool with the MSC system allows us to streamline our approach and focus our efforts on what's most important: a fast, high-quality translation."

Speed and quality are bywords for the team. Public safety depends on these factors: any delay or error could have serious consequences. In the case of a tornado warning, the translation must be ready in less than 2 minutes! Geneviève says that she has sometimes received a weather alert on her mobile phone just seconds after delivering the translation. "It's almost simultaneous. Our work affects people directly. My greatest pride is serving the Canadian population," she says.

Geneviève's team currently has 9 translators, who provide their services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The work schedule is divided into day, evening and night shifts. Most of the time, there is only one person on duty.

Collaboration is crucial within the team, which rotates the shifts. "We really are a great, close-knit team that helps each other a lot. We can count on each other and everyone is very flexible," says Anne-Sophie.

For the mother of 3, shift work may seem like a challenge, but it's quite the opposite. "This type of schedule allows me to free up time to get involved in my personal life. For example, working the evening shift allows me to participate more actively in my children's school activities during the day."

The team's work, which is crucial for Canada, even extends internationally. The Translation Bureau provides assistance to the Hydrometeorological Unit of Haiti during the hurricane season. "If a hurricane hits Haiti or passes close to the country, the Unit issues a special bulletin to warn the population of the possible dangers," explains Geneviève. "Bulletins are in French and we translate them into English to help them keep everyone in their territory well informed."

And the team's work is not limited to weather reports and alerts; during lulls, they handle a range of other content for the MSC, including forecasts from the Canadian Ice Service.

So the next time you're discussing the weather, spare a thought for the translators who help you find out Mother Nature's mood!

To learn more about PSPC employees, projects and services that improve the lives of Canadians, read other articles found on Our Stories.