THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS AT A GLANCE

 Certification may be obtained either:

 

(A) by passing the national exam of the Canadian Translators and Interpreters Council (CTTIC). This examination is given only through a provincial or territorial association.

              or

(B) by presenting a dossier of your work for evaluation.

 

Candidates can take the exam, or present a dossier, when they have translated the required number of words, or have been employed full-time in translation during the required number of years. Associate members have five years before they must either take the national exam or submit a portfolio. 

 

Please note: the following amendment was approved at the 2007 ATIS Annual General Meeting: An associate member may apply for a one-year extension, which may be renewed twice, by sending a request to the president or delegate explaining his or her progress toward meeting the requirement, and the reason for requesting the extension.

 

Points 1 to 10 apply both to certification by exam and to certification on dossier.

 

1. Associate members who have a degree in translation must have at least one year of experience. 

 

2. Associate members who do not have a degree in translation must have at least four years of experience.  

 

3. For official languages (French and English), one year of experience is equivalent to 110,000 words. 

 

4. For other languages, one year of experience is equivalent to 30,000 words. 

 

5. Years of experience are different from the number of years you have to take the exam or submit your portfolio. In some cases, one year of experience (either 110,000 or 30,000 words depending on the language combination) can be achieved in less than one calendar year. In other cases, one year of experience will take longer than one calendar year.

 

6.  If you are not able to translate the required number of words through paid work, one way of increasing the word output is to submit translations that you have done on your own, with no other interest than to demonstrate that you are a skilful translator. Another way is to volunteer your services as a translator to various associations. Both types of translation can be included in the dossier for on-dossier certification.

 

7. For a list of documents to include with your application, please consult the Checklist for Certification. 

 

8. Your application must include proof of experience: invoices, letters from clients, proof of employment if you are a full-time translator, etc. Include contact numbers (address, phone or fax number). We work on an honour system, but ATIS reserves the right to check your proof of experience.

 

9. Sponsors’ letters may be waived in some cases. Please contact ATIS if you cannot provide sponsors’ letters.  

 

10. Please download and complete either

the Application Form for Certification by Examination

                   or

the Application Form for Certification on Dossier.

Attach all necessary documentation.

 

11. Send all documents to the ATIS Exam Co-ordinator, (Saskatoon), or to the ATIS Exam Co-ordinator (Regina).

 

12. Submission dates

12.a. There is a deadline for applications to take the CTTIC exam. Please consult the ATIS website for exam dates and application deadlines.

12.b. For the on-dossier process, dossiers may be sent at any time.

 

13.  Include payment of fees ($160).

 

14.  Results will be sent to you through ATIS.

 

Points 15 to 18 refer to certification on dossier. 

 

15. All texts submitted for evaluation must be your own work. If someone else normally revises your translations, submit the translated texts as they read before revision. 

 

16.  Do not send all of the texts you have translated over the years. 

 

17.  Do not send translated documents that reflect work done in only one specialized area. As an example, if you translate form documents or specialized documents that require translation of the same terms or expressions in a standard format, you should not submit only documents of that nature. In order to be certified, you must demonstrate that you can translate documents that are not repetitions of habitual and form texts. 

 

18.  Every portfolio will be different. Choose 10 to 12 texts (at least 250 words each) translated independently (no revisions by another person) that best reflect your abilities as a translator. Make sure you include the source texts for every translation submitted. Supply the evaluators with enough material to allow them to assess your abilities.