Offering your translation services in Indigenous languages or foreign languages
From: Translation Bureau
To offer the Translation Bureau your translation services in Indigenous or foreign languages as a self-employed individual, freelancer or firm, you must follow the steps below:
- 1. Meet the eligibility criteria
- 2. Obtain your Canada Revenue Agency business number and your procurement business number
- 3. Apply for registration in the Translation Bureau’s directory of linguistic services suppliers
Security clearance
Suppliers themselves cannot request security clearance. They must be sponsored by a federal department. Only after they have passed the Translation Bureau’s accreditation exam or have been registered in its directory of suppliers can the Translation Bureau sponsor them if it finds that they need such clearance.
1. Meet the eligibility criteria
You must ensure that you meet the eligibility criteria below for the type of service you are offering:
Eligibility criteria: Translation in Indigenous languages
Individuals offering services must have the target language as their mother tongue and include a curriculum vitae.
Firms offering services must retain the services of at least one person who meets the criteria outlined immediately above.
In both cases, the Translation Bureau will duly review your file.
Eligibility criteria: Foreign languages
Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Russian
Individuals offering services must ensure to meet the following criteria:
- have the target language as their mother tongue
- have obtained a university degree or equivalent in the target language (attach a copy)
- provide representative samples of work in the source and target languages
- provide relevant references
- include a curriculum vitae
Firms offering services must retain the services of at least one person who meets the criteria outlined immediately above.
Other foreign languages
Individuals or firms offering services must have their file duly reviewed by the Translation Bureau.
Suppliers located outside Canada
Please note that most of our bid solicitations are limited to Canadian services as defined in the Archived—Canadian Content Definition (clause A3050T):
Canadian service: A service provided by an individual based in Canada is considered a Canadian service. Where a requirement consists of only one service, which is being provided by more than one individual, the service will be considered Canadian if a minimum of 80% of the total bid for the service is provided by individuals based in Canada.
Therefore, if you are a foreign-languages translation supplier, please take the above information into account if you anticipate being outside of Canada at the time of work.
You will be invited to bid only:
- when there are fewer than three suppliers of Canadian services in our suppliers directory that meet our selection criteria
- when the work to be done is not subject to security requirements
For more information, refer to the following:
2. Obtain your Canada Revenue Agency business number and your procurement business number
If you meet the eligibility criteria, you must obtain the following required numbers:
Canada Revenue Agency business number
The business number (BN) is a numbering system that streamlines the way businesses deal with the federal government. If you have a Goods and Services Tax (GST) number or a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) number, you already have a business number. The first 9 digits of your GST/HST number constitute your business number (such as 123456789RT0001). This number is required to obtain your procurement business number (PBN).
To obtain your BN, you have to complete form RC1 Request for a Business Number (Canada Revenue Agency).
For more information on the business number
- Registering your business (Canada Revenue Agency)
- Contact the Canada Revenue Agency at 1‑800‑959‑5525 (for service in English) or 1‑800‑959‑7775 (for service in French)
Procurement business number
To obtain a PBN, you must register with the Supplier Registration Information (SRI) system, a database of registered suppliers who want to do business with the federal government, or call 1‑800‑811‑1148 (and select option #2 for assistance regarding the SRI).
3. Apply for registration in the Translation Bureau’s directory of linguistic services suppliers
After obtaining your BN and your PBN, complete and submit the registration form for the Translation Bureau’s directory of linguistic services suppliers online.
Note
Remember to attach the supporting documents required according to the services being offered. (Meet the eligibility criteria).
If you are offering your services as a firm, you must provide the name of and the supporting documents for each candidate on your team.
Related links
Offering translation and transcription services in the official languages