At 311 we receive requests in 180 different languages. We have the capability for translation to receive requests for services. Because Toronto is such a multicultural city, we have further challenges than just two languages. We have at least 180 that we're working with, and different dialects and so on. We can receive requests in all those various languages, and we have professional translation services to support that. We also aim to deliver the request in the language in which it came, if it comes through the official process.
Some of the challenges include the website itself. On the website we allow for different translation capability through Google Translate, and so on. It's not perfect translation, but it's better than if you didn't have it. We put a disclaimer up so you understand that. We have found that it has generated more interest in different languages.
Absolutely, I agree that other countries with single languages may not have the same challenges that Canada has at the federal level, but at the municipal level, with the multitude of different levels of service we have to do in many different languages, we have to be prepared to work on all those perspectives.
So I would say that we don't have an official 180-language act. We don't have that in all our different documentation, all those different things. You have that challenge at this level in the two languages. But being able to receive it, understand the person in their language, and give the information back is a good start. The website will still be a challenge in searches and so on, in those languages in the pure electronic mode. But in assist mode, which 311 offers, or the FYI process offers, we see that working quite well.
That's how we deal with it today at the city.