Offering your translation services in Indigenous languages or foreign languages
Learn how to offer your translation services in Indigenous languages or foreign languages.
On this page
- Offering your services in Indigenous or foreign languages
- Requesting security clearance
- Related links
- For more information
Privacy notice
Personal information is collected on a voluntary basis pursuant to the Financial Administration Act. The information will be used by the Translation Bureau (Public Services and Procurement Canada – PSPC) to identify potential individuals and firms interested in offering their interpretation services. Refusal to provide personal information or missing information or supporting documents may result in the disqualification of individuals or firms from the bidding process. Personal information is described in the Standard Personal Information Bank Professional Services Contracts, PSU 912. Under the Privacy Act, you have the right to access and correct your personal information if it is erroneous or incomplete. Your personal information is protected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Privacy Act. If you need clarification about this statement, you can contact the PSPC Privacy Director by email at aiprp.atip@pwgsc.gc.ca, by phone at 873-469-3721, or by regular mail at the following address: Privacy Director, 5C1 Place du Portage, Phase III, Gatineau, Quebec Canada, K1A 0S5. For more general information on privacy issues and the Privacy Act, please visit the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s website or call 1-800-282-1376.
Offering your services in Indigenous or foreign languages
To offer the Translation Bureau your translation services in Indigenous or foreign languages as a service provider, complete the following steps.
Step 1: Meet the eligibility criteria
You must meet the eligibility criteria for the type of service you are offering.
Eligibility criteria: Translation in Indigenous languages
Individuals who offer services must:
- have the target language as their first language
- include a résumé
Firms that offer services must:
- retain the services of at least 1 person who meets the above criteria
In both cases, the Translation Bureau will review all files before making a decision.
Eligibility criteria: Foreign languages
For services offered in foreign languages (Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Russian), the following criteria must be met:
Individuals must:
- have the target language as their first language
- have obtained a university degree or equivalent in the target language (attach a copy)
- provide representative samples of work in the source and target languages
- provide relevant references
- include a résumé
Firms that offer services must:
- retain the services of at least 1 person who meets the above criteria
Other foreign languages
Individuals or firms that offer services must have their file duly reviewed by the Translation Bureau.
Suppliers located outside Canada
As per the Canadian Content Policy, most of our bid solicitations are limited to Canadian services.
If you are a foreign languages translation supplier, please take the above information into account if you anticipate being outside of Canada when the work is done.
You will be invited to bid only when:
- there are fewer than 3 suppliers of Canadian services in our suppliers directory that meet our selection criteria
- the work to be done is not subject to security requirements
For more information, refer to the following:
Step 2: Register to become a Government of Canada supplier
For more information click on: Preparing to sell to the government | CanadaBuys
Step 3: Register in the Translation Bureau’s directory of linguistic services suppliers
- Complete and submit the registration form for the Translation Bureau’s directory of linguistic services suppliers online
- Attach all the supporting documents required according to the services being offered
If you are a firm:
- you must provide the name of and supporting documents for each candidate on your team
Requesting security clearance
Suppliers themselves cannot request security clearance. The Translation Bureau will initiate the process according to operational needs.
Related links
Offering your translation services in official languages