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Country-specific forums » Translation in Canada »
Interpretation /Translation Rates in Canada
Thread poster: lelykanawati

lelykanawati
Canada
Local time: 18:52
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Sep 3, 2010

Hello everybody!

I have recently moved to Montréal, QC and I'm still discovering the market here in Canada...
I'm a Portuguese English translator and i'd like to know how much to charge for interpreting and translation jobs.
Can anyone give me an idea of rates?

I've done some research and I found rates like $500/ day for interpreting and $0,13/word for translation, but I'm not sue that's it.

Can anyone help?

Thanks so much!
 

Tom Ellett (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:52
Norwegian to English
+ ...
12-20 cents/word for Canadian agencies Sep 6, 2010

In my experience, good Canadian agencies will accept rates in the range of $0.12 to $0.20 per word for translation work, depending on language combination, subject matter, deadline, etc.

If you're lucky enough to land any direct clients, you can of course go higher.
 

Manon Gagne-Kellman  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 17:52
Member (2009)
English to French
+ ...
12 -22 cents Sep 7, 2010

Hi,

If I get a direct client my rate is $0.22/word for which I have not had any complaints. Doing translation through a third party does bring down this rate quite significantly, sometimes as low as $0.07/word. I have noticed that the U.S. is quite happy with a quote of $0.13/word.
 

Meezermex
Local time: 17:52
Spanish to English
Legal Aid cases Oct 21, 2010

Hi,

I know that for interpretation Legal Aid pays $31 the first hour and $19 for every following hour. Translation for Legal Aid runs from $.10 to $.12 cents per word. Of course you can earn more working privately, but accepting Legal Aid (the government pays you not the client) means that you will have considerably more volume.

Just so you know
 

Arianne Farah  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 17:52
Member (2008)
English to French
Canadian & American agencies Oct 22, 2010

No problems in the 0.13 to 0.20 range with Canadian & American agencies though I'm not accepting new agency clients under 0.15 anymore as I'm quite happy with the ones I have in the lower range and would only muscle them out for a little extra $ The Canadian translation market is quite mature and there seems to be less of the cut-throat mentality that characterizes the American market. I recently saw an ad on Joboom for an experien... See more
No problems in the 0.13 to 0.20 range with Canadian & American agencies though I'm not accepting new agency clients under 0.15 anymore as I'm quite happy with the ones I have in the lower range and would only muscle them out for a little extra $ The Canadian translation market is quite mature and there seems to be less of the cut-throat mentality that characterizes the American market. I recently saw an ad on Joboom for an experienced in-house translator in Montreal and the salary was 85-90K/year + bonus. If you have no experience, in-house jobs are a little under half of that but those agencies tend to have high turnover since once a translator has 1 or 2 years of experience they move on to greener pastures. Find out if you can get accredited by l'OTTIAQ for your language pair. Good luck! ▲ Collapse
 

Jean-Pierre Artigau (X)
Canada
Local time: 17:52
English to French
+ ...
See ATIO Dec 27, 2010

The ATIO (Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario has a report on independent translators, although it is from 2005.

http://www.atio.on.ca/Membership/Ind_Survey/Survey05_Intro.html
 

Cenk Haznacı  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 17:52
Member (2008)
English to Turkish
+ ...
So low Oct 5, 2017

It is mind-boggling how low the Legal Aid interpreting rates are, and the fact that they do not cover the time you spend travelling to and from the location... Amazing... On the other hand, they pay $0.20 per word for translation, which is a pretty good rate if you ask me. Why is there such a major difference in rates between the two?
 

Ewa Olszowa  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 17:52
Polish to English
+ ...
Interpreting Oct 11, 2017

If you look at community interpreting, the rates would be $20-30 per hour when working through an agency. Similar rates will be for court interpreting.
 


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