1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Babel
  4. Online First Articles
  5. Online First Article
image of Towards a descriptive framework of municipal translation policies in the Canadian context
EPUB
PDF

Abstract

To date, translation policies in the municipal sector have garnered limited interest. This is particularly true in Canada, where only a handful of studies have been conducted on the subject. Yet cities play a key role in welcoming international newcomers and facilitating their inclusion. To this end, many of them have implemented language policies, notably over the past five years, that prioritize the translation of public-facing municipal resources and the access to translation services. These policies aim to reduce the language barriers faced by immigrants who do not speak either of the two official languages. Drawing on a large-scale field study of 21 major Canadian urban centers, this article has the following three objectives: to provide an overview of their translation policies, to identify commonalities and differences, and to propose, for the first time, a framework for characterizing and problematizing the field of municipal translation policies.

© Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs (FIT) Revue Babel
Available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/babel.25237.rao
2026-04-09
2026-05-11

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/babel.25237.rao
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/10.1075/babel.25237.rao/babel.25237.rao.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1075/babel.25237.rao&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Backhaus, Peter
    2012 “Language Policy at the Municipal Level.” InThe Cambridge Handbook of Language Policy, edited byBernard Spolsky, –. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511979026.014
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511979026.014 [Google Scholar]
  2. Bouyzourn, Kadija, Rachel Macreadie, Shuxiam Zhou, Reine Meylaerts, and Anthony Pym
    2023 “Translation Policies in Times of a Pandemic. An Intercity Comparison.” Language Problems and Language Planning: –. 10.1075/lplp.22053.bou
     https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.22053.bou [Google Scholar]
  3. Cardinal, Linda, and Rémi Léger
    2018 “The Politics of Multilingualism in Canada, A Neo-institutional Approach.” InThe Politics of Multilingualism: Europeanisation, globalization and linguistic governance, edited byPeter Kraus and François Grin, –. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/wlp.6.02car
     https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.6.02car [Google Scholar]
  4. City of Abbotsford
    City of Abbotsford. City of Abbotsford website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.abbotsford.ca/
  5. City of Calgary
    City of Calgary 2019a “The Social Wellbeing Policy.” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.calgary.ca/our-strategy/diversity-inclusion/wellbeing-committee.html
  6. City of Calgary
    City of Calgary 2019b “Multicultural Strategy for Communications and Engagement Implementation Plan Framework. Multilingual Communications and Engagement Policy Report (publication no CPS2019–32366, attachment 1).” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=99228
  7. City of Calgary
    City of Calgary 2020 “Standards for Equitable Communications and Engagement (publication no CPS2020–32358).” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=212259
  8. City of Calgary
    City of Calgary 2025 City of Calgary website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.calgary.ca/home.html
  9. City of Edmonton
    City of Edmonton 2025 City of Edmonton website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.edmonton.ca/
  10. City of Guelph
    City of Guelph 2025 City of Guelph website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://guelph.ca/
  11. City of Halifax
    City of Halifax 2025 “Services municipaux disponibles en français.” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://fr.halifax.ca/a-propos-dhalifax/services-en-francais/services-municipaux-disponibles-en-francais
  12. City of Kingston
    City of Kingston 2025 City of Kingston website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.cityofkingston.ca/
  13. City of Kitchener
    City of Kitchener 2025 City of Kitchener website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.kitchener.ca/en/index.aspx
  14. City of Lethbridge
    City of Lethbridge 2025 City of Lethbridge website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.lethbridge.ca/
  15. City of London
    City of London 2025 City of London website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://london.ca/
  16. City of Markham
    City of Markham 2024 “Language and Translation Policy.” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://pub-markham.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=96005
  17. City of Markham
    City of Markham 2025 City of Markham website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.markham.ca/
  18. City of Oshawa
    City of Oshawa 2025 City of Oshawa website. Accessed, August 15, 2025, https://www.oshawa.ca/en/index.aspx
  19. City of Red Deer
    City of Red Deer 2025 City of Red Deer website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.reddeer.ca/.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. City of Regina
    City of Regina 2025 City of Regina website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.regina.ca/
  21. City of Saint Catherines
    City of Saint Catherines 2025 City of Saint Catherines website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.stcatharines.ca/en/index.aspx
  22. City of Saskatoon
    City of Saskatoon 2025 City of Saskatoon website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.saskatoon.ca/
  23. City of Surrey
    City of Surrey 2024 “Multilingual Communications Policy (Appendix II).” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.surrey.ca/sites/default/files/corporate-reports/CR_2025-R127.pdf
  24. City of Surrey
    City of Surrey 2025 City of Surrey website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.surrey.ca/
  25. City of Toronto
    City of Toronto 2017 “Multilingual Information Provisions Policy.” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-103524.pdf
  26. City of Toronto
    City of Toronto 2019 “MM13.28. Providing Accuracy in Translation for Toronto’s Diverse Communities.” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2019.MM13.28
  27. City of Toronto
    City of Toronto 2023 “Toronto Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee City Council-Approved Terms of Reference for the 2022 — 2026 Term (February 7 and 8, 2023 — EX2.1).” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2023/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-234707.pdf
  28. City of Toronto
    City of Toronto 2025 City of Toronto website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.toronto.ca/
  29. City of Vancouver
    City of Vancouver 2022 “City of Vancouver’s UNDRIP Strategy. Report of the UNDRIP Task Force to the City of Vancouver Mayor & Council.” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://council.vancouver.ca/20221025/documents/p1.pdf
  30. City of Vancouver
    City of Vancouver 2023 “Appendix B, Language Access Policy.” AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://council.vancouver.ca/20230628/documents/pspc1_001.pdf
  31. City of Vancouver
    City of Vancouver 2025 City of Vancouver website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://vancouver.ca/
  32. City of Victoria
    City of Victoria 2025 City of Victoria website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.victoria.ca/
  33. City of Windsor
    City of Windsor. City of Windsor website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.citywindsor.ca/
  34. City of Winnipeg
    City of Winnipeg. City of Winnipeg website. AccessedAugust 15, 2025, https://www.winnipeg.ca/
  35. Córdoba Serrano, Maria, and Oscar Diaz Fouces
    2018 “Building a Field: Translation Policies and Minority Languages.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language: –. 10.1515/ijsl‑2018‑0001
     https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2018-0001 [Google Scholar]
  36. Córdoba Serrano, Maria
    2025 “No One is Safe Until Everyone is Safe: Direction régionale de santé publique de Montréal’s Risk-Based Approach to Multilingual Crisis Communication.” Revista de Llengua i Dret, Journal of Language and Law: –. 10.58992/rld.i83.2025.4296
     https://doi.org/10.58992/rld.i83.2025.4296 [Google Scholar]
  37. Dolmaya McDonough, Julie
    2020 “Translation and Canadian Municipal Websites: A Toronto Example.” Meta (): –. 10.7202/1077403ar
     https://doi.org/10.7202/1077403ar [Google Scholar]
  38. González Núñez, Gabriel
    2016 “On Translation Policy.” Target (): –. 10.1075/target.28.1.04gon
     https://doi.org/10.1075/target.28.1.04gon [Google Scholar]
  39. Good, Kristin
    2009 Municipalities and Multiculturalism: The Politics of Immigration in Toronto and Vancouver. University of Toronto Press. 10.3138/9781442690417
     https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442690417 [Google Scholar]
  40. Hébert, Lyse
    2016 “A Postbilingual Zone? Language and Translation Policy in Toronto.” Tusaaji: A Translation Review (): –. Accessed15 August 2025, https://tusaaji.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/tusaaji/article/view/40331
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Hlavac, Jim, Adolfo Gentile, Marc Orlando, Emiliano Zucchi, and Ari Pappas
    2018 “Translation as a Sub-set of Public and Social Policy and a Consequence of Multiculturalism: the Provision of Translation and Interpreting Services in Australia.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language: –. 10.1515/ijsl‑2018‑0004
     https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2018-0004 [Google Scholar]
  42. Inghilleri, Moira
    2017 Translation and Migration. Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Meylaerts, Reine
    2011 “Translation Policy.” InHandbook of Translation Studies, vol., edited byYves Gambier and Luc Van Doorslaer, –. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/hts.2.tra10
     https://doi.org/10.1075/hts.2.tra10 [Google Scholar]
  44. 2017 “Studying language and translation policies in Belgium: What can we learn from a complexity theory approach?” Parallèles (): –. https://www.paralleles.unige.ch/application/files/8415/2839/0413/Paralleles_29-1_2017_meylaerts.pdf
     [Google Scholar]
  45. 2018 “Language and Translation Policies in Context of Urban Super-Diversity.” InLanguage Policy and Linguistic Justice, edited byTorsten Templin, Bengt-Arne Wickstrom, and Michele Gazzola, –. Springer International. 10.1007/978‑3‑319‑75263‑1_15
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75263-1_15 [Google Scholar]
  46. 2021 “Language and Translation Policies in a Bilingual City with a Multilingual Population.” InRoutledge Handbook of Translation and the City, edited byTong King Lee, –. Routledge. 10.4324/9780429436468‑9
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436468-9 [Google Scholar]
  47. Poirier, Christian
    2006 “Ethnocultural Diversity, Democracy, and Intergovernmental Relations in Canadian Cities.” InCanada: The State of the Federation 2004, Municipal-Federal Provincial Relations in Canada, edited byRobert Young and Christian Leuprecht, –. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Province of Ontario
    Province of Ontario 1990 “French Language Services Act”. Accessed15 August 2025, https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90f32
  49. Province of Manitoba
    Province of Manitoba 2002 “The City of Winnipeg Charter”. Accessed15f August 2025, https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/municipal/c03902.php
  50. Rao, Sathya
    2021 “La politique de la traduction d’Edmonton. Une étude de terrain.” TTR. Traduction, Terminologie, Rédaction (): –. 10.7202/1077712ar
     https://doi.org/10.7202/1077712ar [Google Scholar]
  51. 2024 “Les politiques de traduction municipales au Canada : vers la problématisation d’un nouveau domaine de recherche.” Meta (): –. 10.7202/1118387ar
     https://doi.org/10.7202/1118387ar [Google Scholar]
  52. 2025 “Exploring Municipal Translation Policies in Canada: The Cases of Calgary and Edmonton.” Translation and Interpreting (): –. 10.12807/ti.117201.2025.a05
     https://doi.org/10.12807/ti.117201.2025.a05 [Google Scholar]
  53. 2026 “Le statut du français dans les politiques municipales de traduction de l’Ouest canadien : les cas de Calgary, Edmonton et Vancouver.” Francophonies d’Amérique (). (forthcoming)
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Skandries, Peter
    2016 “Language Policies and the Politics of Urban Multilingualism.” InThe Multilingual City: Vitality, Conflict and Change, edited byLid King and Lorna Carson, –. Blue Ridge Multilingual.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Spolsky, Bernard
    2009 Language Management. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511626470
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511626470 [Google Scholar]
  56. Statistics Canada
    Statistics Canada 2022 “Infographic 6.10 of Canada’s 41 large urban centres have a higher proportion of immigrants than all of Canada.” Statistics Canada, last modified26 October 2022, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221026/g-a006-eng.htm
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Tossuti, Livianna
    2012 “Municipal Roles in Immigrant Settlement, Integration and Cultural Diversity.” Canadian Journal of Political Science (): –. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2332100110.1017/S000842391200073X
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S000842391200073X [Google Scholar]
  58. Vervotec, Steven
    2007 “Super-diversity and its implications.” Ethnic and Racial Studies (): –. 10.1080/01419870701599465
     https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701599465 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/babel.25237.rao
Loading
Towards a descriptive framework of municipal translation policies in the Canadian context
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.25237.rao
/content/journals/10.1075/babel.25237.rao
/content/journals/10.1075/babel.25237.rao
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: language policy ; Politique traduction ; multilinguisme ; politique linguistique ; municipalities ; translation policy ; municipalités ; Canada ; multilingualism

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error