Question Period Note: Translation Bureau virtual capacity

The Translation Bureau (TB) continues to work with the House Administration and all partners to support Parliament’s virtual sittings while ensuring the health and safety of its interpreters.

• The Government is committed to providing essential translation and interpretation services to Parliamentarians and Canadians
  • We are working with House Administration and all our partners to support Parliament’s virtual sittings
  • Ensuring the health and safety of interpreters is a priority for the Government of Canada
  • Guidelines have been developed to establish optimal conditions so that interpreters can provide high-quality service in a safe environment

If pressed on interpreter health and safety:

• We continue to put measures in place to ensure a safe work environment for interpreters, which meet the International Organization for Standardization standards for interpretation
• The TB has provided its interpreters with headsets with sound limiters to protect against acoustic shock, and implemented a series of hygiene and physical distancing measures
• We are conducting research on the current working environment of interpreters to make informed, evidence-based decisions related to health and safety and other working conditions

If pressed on capacity:

• We currently have the capacity to continue serving Parliament and the Government of Canada
• The TB currently has approximately 150 official languages interpreters available to meet the needs of Parliament
• As we are facing an unprecedented volume of remote interpretation requests, we are working with clients to plan and monitor demand carefully, leveraging contracts where appropriate

Since the beginning of the pandemic, TB has worked closely with the House Administration in the implementation of virtual committee sittings.

TB’s operations have been altered to respond to parliamentary needs. Conditions have improved over time and the collaboration continues in order to find a sustainable solution to reduce the risk of interpretation service interruptions due to the technology used by remote participants.

Certain criteria must be met in order for remote interpretation to work. These include the following:

• All participants must wear a headset with a microphone to ensure clear sound quality
• Participants must appear via videoconference so that the interpreter can see their facial expressions and clearly communicate the tone of their message
• Participants must strictly adhere to the rules for speaking, and must wait their turn to speak
• A technician must be in the room with the interpreters at all times to address any technical issues
• The audio feed for the interpretation consoles must have limiters or compressors to prevent acoustic shock
• Interpreters must be able to do sound checks with the technician and participants before each meeting begins
• As always, participants who plan to read written statements must provide them in advance to interpreters

These criteria are needed to establish optimal conditions so that interpreters can provide high-quality service in a safe environment. Abiding by these criteria will not completely eliminate the risk of interpretation service interruptions due to the technology used by remote participants, but it will greatly reduce this risk and help ensure the best possible interpretation.

Translation Bureau health and safety

With the increased use of videoconferences, there has been an increase in incident reports from interpreters, including headaches, earaches and fatigue due to poor sound quality.

On September 28, 2020, the Hill Times reported that a new international study places Canada among the countries with the highest rate of acoustic shock incidents suffered by language interpreters.

TB has provided its interpreters with headsets with sound limiters to protect against acoustic shock and implemented a series of hygiene and physical distancing measures. In addition, the TB requires its clients to take technical measures that promote not only the health of its interpreters but also high-quality interpretation. These include having a qualified audiovisual technician present at all times, remote participants’ use of good quality headsets with built-in microphones, using a stable broadband Internet connection, and providing documents to interpreters before or at the start of meetings.

TB’s approach is aligned with international best practices, including the International Association of Conference Interpreters principles, guidance for institutions and best practices. TB is seen as a leader in the field.

Research studies

TB currently has 3 studies underway to look at technology, sound quality and interpreters’ auditory health:

1. TB is working with the National Research Council of Canada to analyze the sound quality and the sound pressure levels interpreters are exposed to on Parliament Hill and the performance of the Bureau’s hearing protection devices (PreservEar)
2. TB developed a research project with two audiologists specializing in acoustic shock from the Laboratoire de Neurosciences Sensorielles et Cognitives (Aix-Marseille University, France), to perform hearing tests on interpreters who experienced acoustic shocks as part of their work and assess the impact remote audio-visual signals have on interpreters’ hearing
3. TB is working with the University of Geneva, Switzerland, on a research study into how the added cognitive load of remote interpretation affects interpreters

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