I. What “certified” actually means

In Canada the word is not decorative. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada defines a certified translator as a member in good standing of a provincial or territorial organisation of translators and interpreters — in British Columbia, the Society of Translators and Interpreters of British Columbia, whose certification is administered through the Canadian Translators, Terminologists and Interpreters Council.

Certification is not a subscription. It is earned by passing the CTTIC certification examination, marked to a minimum of seventy per cent, or by an on-dossier process requiring at least four years of attested full-time practice and sponsorship by three certified colleagues in the same language pair. The designation attests that the holder produces translations that are faithful, idiomatic, and require minimal revision.

The practical consequence is narrow and important: a translation from a Canadian certified translator does not need an affidavit.

II. Two routes to an acceptable translation

An authority will accept a translation by one of two routes. The first is certification by a Canadian certified translator. The second is a translation by any competent person, accompanied by an affidavit in which that person swears to the accuracy of the translation and to their command of both languages.

The affidavit route works, but it costs more and fails more often. It requires a notary public, a commissioner of oaths or a commissioner for taking affidavits inside Canada — or a notary public abroad, where the authority to administer oaths varies by country. It adds a second document that must travel with the first, be dated consistently, and name the translator correctly. Each of those is a point at which a file is returned.

III. What IRCC requires with an application

For any supporting document that is not already in English or French, an application must include, together:

• the document in its original language, or a certified copy of it;
• the complete English or French translation; and
• an affidavit from the person who completed the translation — unless that person is certified in Canada, in which case no affidavit is needed.

Two further points are worth stating plainly, because they account for a large share of returned files. A translation must be complete: partial translations, summaries and “relevant extracts” are not acceptable unless the authority has asked for an extract in writing. And a photocopy submitted in place of a certified copy of the original will be treated as no original at all.

IV. Who may not translate your documents

Translations must not be done by applicants themselves, nor by members of an applicant’s family. IRCC reads “family” broadly: parents, guardians, siblings, spouses, common-law partners, grandparents, children, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and first cousins are all excluded — and the exclusion holds even where the family member is a qualified, certified translator.

This is the most common avoidable error in Punjabi-language files, because there is so often a capable bilingual relative at hand. The translation will be refused on that ground alone, however good it is.

V. Credential assessment bodies

World Education Services and its counterparts apply their own rules, and they are stricter about form than about certification. A translation submitted to WES must be exact and word for word, complete, legible, and typed. Handwritten translations are refused outright, as are translations of photocopies rather than official documents, and translations prepared by the applicant.

Word for word is the phrase that catches people out. A degree parchment translated into idiomatic English prose will be returned; the evaluator needs course titles, grades, credit values, institution names and grading legends in the same arrangement as the original. This office translates credential documents in that register by default.

VI. What this office issues

Every certified translation leaves this office as a single, self-contained set:

• the complete translation, formatted to mirror the source page for page;
• every seal, stamp, endorsement, marginal note and signature block rendered or described, with illegible passages marked as illegible rather than inferred;
• a signed statement of accuracy naming the source language, the target language, the document, and the number of pages;
• the translator’s seal, signature, membership number and date; and
• a certified copy of the source document, attached and cross-referenced to the translation.

Delivery is a signed PDF for online submission and, where a physical set is required, sealed hard copies by post or collection.

VII. The process, step by step