Translation Bureau establishes industry advisory committee

GATINEAU, QC, Aug. 15, 2019 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada places the highest priority on the promotion of official languages and is committed to upholding the Official Languages Act and its requirements.

Today, Steven MacKinnon, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, announced on her behalf the creation of the Language Industry Advisory Committee and the appointment of its 18 members.

This advisory committee is one of the first of its kind in the world. Its members are professionals who represent the country's language sector. They will bring a wide range of perspectives and examine the use and impact of neural machine translation, including the effort required to ensure quality translation using new tools to better meet the growing demand for translation.

Following the consultations, the Committee will draft a report and make recommendations aimed at maintaining the quality of official languages communications. The recommendations will be considered in the establishment of the Translation Bureau's next contracting tool for obtaining private sector translation services, thus allowing the language industry's reality to be taken into account and to be fair to both government and contractors and ultimately to Canadians.

The use of new language technologies, such as a neural machine translation system, enables the Translation Bureau to respond even more effectively to the growing needs in official languages. Such tools enable language professionals to translate faster and thus process more requests while ensuring that the quality remains the same.

Quotes

"This new advisory committee will allow the Translation Bureau to modernize its operations and become a leader in the sector. We are fortunate to have so many qualified and innovative language professionals in Canada and believe that it is essential that they be well equipped to meet the growing demand in Canada. In order to do so, it is therefore essential to consult them."

Steven MacKinnon
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility

"The Translation Bureau's modernized vision is to make the organization a centre of excellence in linguistic services. These services help ensure compliance with the Official Languages Act, whether it is the promotion of English and French, the language of work in the public service or the way government communicates with Canadians. The Bureau will continue to modernize itself while working closely with its partners to deliver quality services that meet client expectations." 

Stéphan Déry
Chief Executive Officer, Translation Bureau

Quick facts

• In recent years, there has been considerable progress in language technologies, particularly since the advent of neural machine translation.
• Neural machine translation uses algorithms that, like neurons in the brain, can "learn" to become more and more efficient: the more bilingual content they are fed, the more these algorithms can find connections between words and become more capable of producing translations that take context into account and that are free of language errors.
• At the Bureau, neural machine translation is already part of the tools available to professionals and will be fully integrated into the workflow when the new Linguistic Services Request Management System arrives.
• To make up the Language Industry Advisory Committee, the Translation Bureau invited representatives from government and the private sector. In particular, it made sure to have representation from professional associations, educational institutions and industry.
• The Committee's first meetings are expected to be held in the fall of 2019.
• The members of the Language Industry Advisory Committee are as follows:
• Claude Vigneault, CLAUDE VIGNEAULT
• Daniel Crépeau, DANIEL CRÉPEAU
• Danielle Mineault, Supplier Relations Coordinator, Request Processing Centre, Translation Bureau
• Denis Couillard, Co-president, Canadian Translators, Terminologists and Interpreters Council
• Diane Cousineau, Chief Executive Officer, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
• Fabien Côté, President, Stoquart Americas Inc.
• France Cardinal, Manager, Linguistic Services Division, Procurement Branch, Public Services and Procurement Canada
• Jessica Chagnon, JESSICA CHAGNON
• Josée Cardinal, Director, Parliamentary Translation and Special Projects, Translation Bureau
• Julie Poirier, Acting Director, Terminology, English and Multilingual Translation and Professional Support, Translation Bureau
• Louis-André Lepage, Vice-President, Linguistic Services, Translation Bureau (Committee Chair)
• Manuel Fresnais, President, Sematos
• Marc Olivier, Director, French Translation, Translation Bureau
• Maryse Benhoff, Language Industry Association
• Natali Bourret, Treasurer, Canadian Translators, Terminologists and Interpreters Council
• Nathalie Lemieux, Director, Resource Management, Translation Bureau
• Robin Ayoub, Language Industry Association
• Ryan Winning, Manager, Official Languages, Training and Professional Development, Masha Krupp

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Photos or videos
A photo will be taken during a photo op with the Parliamentary Secretary on August 15, 2019 and will be added to this release.

Steven MacKinnon, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility; Stéphan Déry, Chief Executive Director, Translation Bureau; and the Committee members.

SOURCE Public Services and Procurement Canada