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Interpreter Services

Please take note of the following language interpreter resources that you may be able to access either at LAO rates or for no cost:

The Ministry of Citizenship administers a Language Interpreter Services program for service providers working with individuals who have a limited proficiency in English and are currently experiencing domestic abuse. If you are a providing legal services to an individual currently experiencing domestic abuse, you are encouraged to call one of the 10 community agencies (see below) to access interpreters through this program, who are then paid for by the Ministry of Citizenship, i.e. you are not billed.

Interpreter services are available in the following languages through this program:

  • Albanian
  • Amharic
  • Arabic
  • Bengali
  • Bulgarian
  • Burmese
  • Cambodian
  • Cantonese
  • Czech
  • Dari Farsi
  • Dinka
  • Dutch
  • Finnish
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Gujurati
  • Hebrew
  • Hindi
  • Hungarian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Kurdish-Kurmandji
  • Kurdish-Sorani
  • Low-German
  • Mandarin
  • Nuer Oromo
  • Ojibwe
  • Ojicree
  • Pashto
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Punjabi
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Serbo-Croatian
  • Somali
  • Spanish
  • Tagalog
  • Tamil
  • Thai
  • Tigrigna
  • Turkish
  • Twi
  • Ukranian
  • Urdu
  • Vietnamese

All you need to do is to call the community agency closest to you at any time, including outside of regular work hours, and request the services of an interpreter, either on site or via the telephone. The program also includes telephone message relay services (e.g. an interpreter is available to relay a message over the phone).

Outside of the mandate of this program (i.e. helping women to escape abuse) most of these 10 agencies also provide interpretation services on a fee-for-service basis. Given that they are non-profit and the interpreters are trained to the high standards set by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, they are a good place to start in terms of finding reasonably priced and high quality interpretation services.

And, you will find a list of Cultural/Community Agencies that may provide free interpretation for members of the community they serve.

At this time the attached lists of interpreters is limited in its geographical coverage. We would like to expand and build our existing list, particularly in geographical areas that we don’t have interpreters for. Let us know if you have any suggestions for adding more interpreters to our existing lists.

Community Agencies Providing Interpretation Services

Across Languages Translation & Interpretation Services
515 Richmond Street, Unit 3
London, Ontario N6A 5N4
Phone: (519) 642-7247
Toll Free: 1-866-833-7247
Emergency Service: (519) 642-3003
Fax: (519) 642-1831
Email: al@acrosslanguages.org
Website: www.acrosslanguages.org
Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, Interpreter Service
489 College Street, Ste 503
Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5
Phone: (416) 323-9149 ext.236
Fax: (416) 323-9107
Email: is@schliferclinic.com
Website: www.schliferclinic.com
Immigrant Women Services Ottawa, Cultural Interpretation Service
219 Argyle Avenue, Suite 400
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2H4
Phone: (613) 729-1393
Fax: (613) 729-9308
Email: infomail@immigrantwomenservices.com
Website: www.immigrantwomenservices.com
Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre, Community Interpreter Dept.
102 King Street West
Kitchener, Ontario N2G 1A6
Phone: (519) 745-2593
Fax: (519) 745-5857
Email: interpreters@kwmulticultural.ca
Website: www.kwmulticultural.ca
Multicultural Association of Kenora and District, Interpreter Access Service
212 McClellan Avenue
Kenora, Ontario P9N 1A9
Phone: (807) 468-9443
Toll Free: 1-888-242-5661
Fax: (807) 468-3895
Email: cias@gokenora.com
Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, Translation, Interpretation & Cultural Interpretation
245 Janette Avenue
Windsor, Ontario N9A 4Z2
Phone: (519) 255-1127
Toll Free: 1-877-237-9264
Fax: (519) 255-1435
Email: ddunn@multicultural-council.org
Multilingual Community Interpreter Services
1185 Eglinton Ave E, Ste 605
Toronto, Ontario M3C 3C6
Phone: (416) 426-7051 ext.7992 or ext.7944
Toll Free: 1-888-236-8311
24/7 emergency: (416) 422-5984
Fax: (416) 426-7118
Email: multi.ling@mcis.on.ca
Website: www.mcislanguages.com
Thunder Bay Multicultural Association, Interpretation Services
17 N. Court Street
Thunder Bay, Ontario P7A 4T4
Phone: (807) 345-0551
Toll Free: 1-866-831-1144
Fax: (807) 345-0173
Email: info@tbma.ca
Website: www.thunderbay.org
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