Necessity of getting certified as a translator to work in Canada (Ontario) Thread poster: Laura Jones
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How important is it to be certified to gain work in Canada?
I am planning to transition to a career as a DE > EN translator, but I will soon be moving from the UK to Canada (Ontario).
Due to the entry requirements for the exam for translator certification in Ontario, I will not be able to qualify to be certified as a translator in Ontario until at least a couple of year after emigrating.
My degree is in German, not translation, and my qualification in trans... See more How important is it to be certified to gain work in Canada?
I am planning to transition to a career as a DE > EN translator, but I will soon be moving from the UK to Canada (Ontario).
Due to the entry requirements for the exam for translator certification in Ontario, I will not be able to qualify to be certified as a translator in Ontario until at least a couple of year after emigrating.
My degree is in German, not translation, and my qualification in translation is considered vocational, not academic, so ATIO (Association for Translators and Interpreters in Ontario) will not allow me to sit their certification qualification.
Given it is that I would receive the majority of work from German clients anyway, how essential is certification as a translator for working in Canada?
Thoughts would be much appreciated, especially from anyone working in the language pair DE - EN in Canada.
If anyone has experience earning a full time income from online, freelance work in Canada (in a language pair other than FR - EN), your thoughts would be particularly valued. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adam Dickinson 
Canada
Local time: 02:10
Member (2016)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Mostly for official documents | Oct 25, 2022 |
I'm ATIO certified for the ES-EN language pair but not certified for the DE-EN pair. The only work I get as a result of being certified is from people who need documents translated to present to the Canadian government, usually for immigration-related purposes.
Since, like you, I get most of my DE-EN work from clients in Europe, no one really cares about whether or not I get certified. I'm planning to write the DE-EN exam eventually, but it would be a nice bonus, not an essential th... See more I'm ATIO certified for the ES-EN language pair but not certified for the DE-EN pair. The only work I get as a result of being certified is from people who need documents translated to present to the Canadian government, usually for immigration-related purposes.
Since, like you, I get most of my DE-EN work from clients in Europe, no one really cares about whether or not I get certified. I'm planning to write the DE-EN exam eventually, but it would be a nice bonus, not an essential thing to have.
One other thing to add (though you may know this already) is that ATIO defines experience by the number of words translated, with 100,000 words equal to one year of translation experience. For someone with a non-recognized degree, I believe you need to prove four years of experience, which would be 400,000 words translated in the past five years. From my experience, a full-time translator might well have that amount of experience under their belt before four calendar years have elapsed. Just something to consider, as you may not have to wait as long as you think before you're eligible to sit the exam. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 00:10
Dutch to English
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Adam Dickinson wrote:
...One other thing to add (though you may know this already) is that ATIO defines experience by the number of words translated, with 100,000 words equal to one year of translation experience. For someone with a non-recognized degree, I believe you need to prove four years of experience, which would be 400,000 words translated in the past five years. From my experience, a full-time translator might well have that amount of experience under their belt before four calendar years have elapsed. Just something to consider, as you may not have to wait as long as you think before you're eligible to sit the exam.
Two points:
1) If you look at the ATIO requirements for certification, there is more involved than just collecting the 100,000 words per year. As they say on the website, "the on-dossier criteria might be seen by some as being not more difficult, but more demanding." Either way, you first need to become a member ('applicant') and see where you stand after a year or two.
2) I doubt that there is enough demand in the DE-EN language combination (excluding certified documents) to provide full-time work. I think that to become a full-time translator eventually, you would need to become certified and/or add another language combination, preferably one that is in higher demand.
| | | | Adam Dickinson
Canada
Local time: 02:10
Member (2016)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| On dossier/exam | Oct 26, 2022 |
Tina Vonhof wrote:
1) If you look at the ATIO requirements for certification, there is more involved than just collecting the 100,000 words per year. As they say on the website, "the on-dossier criteria might be seen by some as being not more difficult, but more demanding." Either way, you first need to become a member ('applicant') and see where you stand after a year or two.
The text that you quote has to do with On Dossier certification rather than the Certification Exam, which are not the same thing. They're both ways to become certified, but different processes.
For the certification exam, you send in an application together with proof of your experience (the 100,000 words per year), then write an entrance exam, after which you gain Candidate status. Then you write the certification exam.
On Dossier involves the same process of becoming a Candidate, but instead of writing the certification exam you send in samples of your translation work.
To be clear, I wasn't saying that the 100,000 words per year would be sufficient to get certified, but rather that they're needed to sit the initial exam to become a Candidate.
Also, my understanding is that becoming an applicant and waiting for a year or two is not the way to do things -- first off, you don't really receive any benefits from being an applicant. Second, at least when I applied (in 2019), once you become an applicant you have one year to pass the entrance exam after which you need to apply again. So it's best to apply only once you meet the requirements listed (degree, experience, etc.) and feel ready to write the entrance exam.
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