Thank you, Madam Chair.
My name is Matthew Ball. I'm the acting CEO of the translation bureau. We're part of Public Services and Procurement Canada.
With me today is Caroline Corneau, who's the acting vice-president of service to Parliament and interpretation.
I'd like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered today on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people.
Honourable members of the committee, thank you for inviting us to participate in this panel alongside Monsieur Picotte and Madam Antonelli from the Canadian Association of Professional Employees and Ms. Ballantyne and Mr. Thompson from the International Association of Conference Interpreters. These long-standing partners of the bureau are valuable allies in our efforts to ensure quality interpretation services for our clients and optimal working conditions for our interpreters.
As a centre of excellence in linguistic services, the translation bureau is proud to provide interpretation for the House of Commons. I'm pleased to have this opportunity to speak about the interpretation of virtual sessions in the context of your study on hybrid proceedings. Please note, however, that the translation bureau is not responsible for the technical environment in which the interpreters work.
Since the start of the pandemic, our interpreters, like other professionals, have provided services essential to the proper operation of democracy. Allow me to take this opportunity to thank our employees, freelancers and our partners here present for their dedication.
Since the health and safety of interpreters are the Translation Bureau's priority, we have taken measures to protect our interpreters from the consequences of virtual meetings with the help of the House Administration and our other partners. For example, speaking during a virtual meeting without using an appropriate microphone increases the risk of sound issues, which can force our interpreters to interrupt their services. The House Administration therefore provides headsets equipped with a unidirectional microphone for all members and witnesses.
And I thank you, honourable members, for using those headsets, which vastly reduce the risks, the number of health and safety incidents and service interruptions.
With regard to capacity, there is a shortage of interpreters, not just in Canada but around the world. To wit, the translation bureau, the largest employer of interpreters in Canada, has only some 70 staff interpreters in official languages. We're fortunate to be able to benefit from a pool of freelance interpreters available to help, but even the private sector capacity is limited. We have approximately 60 freelance interpreters in official languages serving parliamentarians, and their availability varies depending on the demands of their personal lives and their other clients. This means we have to be very agile in matching our supply with the demand. We are aware of the challenges this causes you as our clients, and rest assured that we are making every effort to increase our capacity.
Among other things, we continue to hire every new graduate in official languages from the only two master of conference interpreting programs in Canada. One is taught at the University of Ottawa here and the other one is at Glendon College at York University. We are also about to hold our annual accreditation exam in official languages in November. We anticipate that this will allow us to add several new interpreters to our pool of qualified suppliers.
Furthermore, this past summer, we took part in the pilot project conducted by the House Administration to determine whether interpretation services could be provided by interpreters located outside the Parliamentary Precinct, which could also expand our interpretation pool.
Honourable members of the committee, the Translation Bureau spares no effort to provide you with excellent service while protecting its interpreters. While in-person meetings afford better interpretation conditions, we know that virtual and hybrid meetings will remain a reality. Which is why, with the help of our partners in Canada and abroad, we will continue gathering reliable data, seeking innovative solutions and developing new interpreters so we can meet the needs of the House should it decide to continue with virtual and hybrid meetings.
I will be pleased to answer your questions.