Feds finalize new rules for freelance interpreters, risking shortages on Parliament Hill

The federal government has finalized new procurement rules for freelance interpreters, which a professional association says will worsen an interpreter shortage on Parliament Hill.

The new rules announced by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) on Oct. 24 will come into effect beginning next year.

The Canadian region of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC-Canada) has derided the rules, saying they will worsen working conditions and wages. The new finalized rules contain a “lowest-bid system” in which the contractor offering to do the job for cheapest will win the contract.

Nicole Gagnon, a spokesperson for AIIC-Canada, said that despite assurances from the Translation Bureau that the lowest price would not be the the sole criteria in considering bids for contracts, “it is in fact the sole criteria.”

She added that this was “in keeping with government’s program of austerity, trying to save money at all costs.”

Gagnon also criticized a lack of quality assurance provisions. The association is also concerned that the new rules weaken health and safety measures following injuries of interpreters due to feedback noise issues.

A survey published by AIIC-Canada on Oct. 15 found that around half of freelance interpreters were “unlikely to sign up for a lowest bid system.”

PSPC did not return a request for comment by deadline.

The Translation Bureau currently employs around 60 full time staff interpreters, which produce around 1,200 hours of works, according to PSPC.

Meanwhile, a pool of around 70 freelancers who supported that work in 2024-25 provided around 8,000 hours of work.

If hours remain similar next year, around two-fifths of interpretation work is at risk of disruption if freelance interpreters choose to avoid working under the new rules.

The federal government’s new rules also provide “per diem rates,” which Gagnon called “daily rates in name only.”

“I suspect that the shortage will only get worse, because there are less people and the demand is greater,” Gagnon said.

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