Question Period Note: Translation Bureau virtual interpretation capacity

The Translation Bureau 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 Translation Bureau is committed to providing quality linguistic services in support of Parliament and federal government departments and agencies
  • The Translation Bureau works in close collaboration with the House Administration and all our partners to support Parliament’s virtual sittings and to plan for future demand
  • Ensuring the health and safety of interpreters is a priority for the Government of Canada, and the Translation Bureau has put in place a number of measures to do just that as remote interpretation becomes increasingly common
  • 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:

• Protecting interpreters’ health and safety continues to be our top priority. Public Services and Procurement Canada continues to monitor the situation in Canada and around the world to make informed decisions and implement the best safety measures for interpreters providing distance interpretation
• The Translation Bureau has provided its interpreters with headsets with sound limiters to protect against acoustic shock, has reduced the working hours of interpreters assigned to remote interpretation in order to reflect the increased effort to interpret virtual sessions, and implemented rigorous COVID-19 safety measures

If pressed on the National Research Council report on sound quality:

• Ensuring the health and safety of interpreters is a priority for the Government of Canada, and we will continue working with the House Administration to examine all possible solutions to improve sound quality for interpreters
• The Translation Bureau continues to apply a series of measures adopted since the beginning of the pandemic to address sound quality issues

If pressed on interpretation capacity:

• We currently have the capacity to continue serving Parliament and the Government of Canada
• 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
• Demand for interpretation services can greatly fluctuate and PSPC appreciates freelance interpreters who continue to provide their services to respond to this varying demand

If pressed on freelance contracts:

• Public Services and Procurement Canada is committed to providing high quality interpretation services to its clients
• We worked with interpreters to ensure that appropriate health and safety measures and amended working conditions are incorporated in the new contract as a result of the shift to virtual meetings, and the resulting increased demand for remote interpretation
• In response to the additional cognitive load associated with remote interpretation, we have reduced the length of assignments to a max of 4 hours and increased the number of interpreters per assignment, without reducing their compensation
• We are committed to a fair and transparent procurement process that will attract the largest number of freelance interpreters to support the Translation Bureau in fulfilling its mandate
• The Translation Bureau will continue to work with freelancers to adjust its approach at any time in the future if new information becomes available and in accordance with Parliament’s needs for the future

If pressed on the next generation of interpreters:

• The Translation Bureau works in collaboration with both the University of Ottawa and York University to train the next generation of interpreters
• The Translation Bureau holds annual accreditation exams to increase the pool of qualified interpreters

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Translation Bureau has worked closely with the House Administration in the implementation of virtual committee sittings. The Translation Bureau’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 distance interpretation to work. These include:

• 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
• 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.

The Translation Bureau provided its interpreters with headsets with sound limiters to protect against acoustic shock and implemented a series of health and physical distancing measures. Additionally, the new consoles used to transmit sound to the interpreters are in keeping with ISO standards and include sound limiters that prevent acoustic shock.

The Translation Bureau also requires its clients to respect technical requirements that protect the health of its interpreters and provide for high-quality interpretation. These include having a qualified audiovisual technician present at all times, requiring that remote participants’ use of good quality headsets with built-in microphones, have a stable broadband Internet connection, and provide documents to interpreters before or at the start of meetings.

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

Contracts with freelance interpreters

The Translation Bureau has seen a significant increase in distance interpretation since the beginning of the pandemic. A new open contract for interpretation was developed in consultation with the interpreter community and came into effect on July 1, 2021.

These procurement processes are important for the Translation Bureau’s capacity to deliver services due to its reliance on the freelancer community.

Research studies

The Translation Bureau has 3 studies underway on technology, sound quality and interpreters’ auditory health:

• The Translation Bureau commissioned a report from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) regarding the sound quality and the sound pressure levels interpreters are exposed to on Parliament Hill, including in video conferences, and the performance of the Translation Bureau’s hearing protection devices (PreservEar). The NRC report confirmed that the hearing protection systems used in the interpretation of parliamentary debates provide excellent protection against acoustic shocks. However, it also concluded that the quality of the Zoom signal sent to the interpretation console is inferior to the quality of the sound received by the participants directly connected to Zoom
• The Translation Bureau is developing a collaborative project with researchers from the University of Ottawa specializing in the perception of speech in noise, in order to perform hearing tests on interpreters over time, develop benchmarks and present recommendations following acoustic incidents
• The Translation Bureau is working with the University of Geneva, Switzerland, on a research study into whether and how distance interpretation affects cognitive load and performance of interpreters

None