Community Interpreters

All candidates must be Canadian citizens or Canadian permanent residents living within Canada at the time of application.

Application Pre-Requirements

Pre-requisite to apply to become an Associate Community Interpreter:

  • Pass the Code of Ethics exam with a minimum grade of 70%
  • Pass the Reading Comprehension for interpreters exam with a minimum grade of 70%
  • Pass the CILISAT course with a minimum grade of 70% 
  • Meet the requirements under one or more of the following options:

 

Institution / Option

  • University Degree in Interpreting/Translation (minimum of 3 years of post-secondary education)
  • Diploma in Translation and Interpretation (minimum of 2 years post-secondary education)

Supporting Documents

  • University Degree (in English or translated by a certified translator)
  • Diploma of completion (in English or translated by a certified translator)
  • Evaluation of credentials through recognized organization

Req. Hours

  • 20 for Quite Common,
  • 15 for Common, and
  • 12 for LLDs (see table below)

Institution / Option

  • Immigration Refugee Board Exam (IRB)

Supporting documents

  • IRB Letter

Req. Hours

  • 20 for Quite Common,
  • 15 for Common, and
  • 12 for LLDs (see table below)

Institution / Option

  • Calgary Immigrant Women Association’s Interpretation and Translation Program (CIWA)

Supporting documents

  • Certificate of completion of CISOC (program) certificate

Req. Hours

  • 20 for Quite Common,
  • 15 for Common, and
  • 12 for LLDs (see table below)

Institution / Option

  • Cultural Interpretation Services for Our Communities (CISOC) course

Supporting documents

  • CISOC Certificate

Req.Hours

  • 20 for Quite Common,
  • 15 for Common, and
  • 12 for LLDs (see table below)

Institution / Option

  • MCIS Interpreter Program

Supporting documents

  • MCIS Training Completion

Req.Hours

  • 20 for Quite Common,
  • 15 for Common, and
  • 12 for LLDs (see table below)

Institution / Option

  • Other recognized training institutions will be considered. (Consult with the administrative ATIA assistant).

Supporting documents

Req.Hours

If you have more than one language combination, you must submit a separate file for EACH language.
You must submit a completed time log and proof of hours. (Invoices submitted to clients, letters from reputable institutions confirming the hours you have worked for them, etc.) Attach all documentation that supports your reported hours of experience.
Provide two letters of reference from reliable professional sources (NOT the same letter as required for the proof of hours worked), and the contact information requested below:
Please include name, phone number and email address for each reference.
All files and documents MUST submitted electronically. You will be notified of your results in four weeks by e-mail.
Click or drag a file to this area to upload.
Please attach any of required files here.
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Assessment may be done through:

The fee for this assessment will vary from one organization to the next, and it is the responsibility of the candidate to cover this cost.

If you do not have any of the above credentials, please contact the ATIA office for further support.

Any documents not in English must be translated by a Certified Translator.

Language Classifications

Group A (Quite Common)

  • Arabic
  • Cantonese
  • Filipino/Tagalog
  • French
  • Hindi
  • Mandarin
  • Persian
  • Punjabi
  • Spanish
  • Urdu
  • Vietnamese

Group B (Common)

  • African languages or dialects (that are seen to be more in use currently)
  • Amharic
  • Dari
  • Dinka
  • French (for African countries that speak this language)
  • Harari
  • Korean
  • Nuer
  • Oromo
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Somali
  • Tigrinya
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian

Group C (Language of lesser diffusion in Alberta)

  • Albanian
  • Bengali
  • Catalan
  • Croatian
  • Dutch
  • Finnish
  • German
  • Greek
  • Gujarati
  • Hungarian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Kachchi
  • Kurdish
  • Mongolian
  • Polish
  • Serbian
  • Sindhi
  • Thai

Notes:

  • Group A seems to coincide with immigration statistics and community groups.
  • Group B: Also agrees with immigration statistics of recent community arrivals to Alberta.
  • Some languages in Group C are immigrants who arrived in Canada many years ago and have a much better knowledge of English, i.e., German, Finnish.
  • Mongolian and Catalan are rarely used in court, at least in Alberta. Catalan is used more in translations.

This is not based on how small or large a community is, but, rather on various factors that impact the demand for interpretation in the province. Some of these factors, for example, relate to how long ago a particular community immigrated to Canada, the community’s knowledge of English, socio-economic factors, exposure, circumstances of immigration (e.g. immigrants were refugees/forced migrants, immigrants were economy or business class immigrants, immigrants were students, immigrants were sponsors, etc.).

Application Notes:

  1. If your application is approved, you will be offered Associate Membership with ATIA. The membership year is from September 1 to August 31, and be required to pay the annual associate membership fee.

  2. Once you become an associate member, you have up to six years to become a Certified Community Interpreter. Should you not apply for certification within this period, your name will be struck from the roll and you will no longer be a member of ATIA. 

  3. Upon becoming an associate member of ATIA, we recommend that you join ATIA’s group insurance for errors and omissions. For information, please contact the ATIA office at: admin@atia.ab.ca