Official Languages Committee on Oct. 7th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Please answer the question very quickly.

[Jean-François Lymburner]

I am going to let Ms. Plouffe answer.

[Annie Plouffe]

Yes, evaluations are provided for.

As we said earlier, our senior interpreters oversee quality. They are often in the booth with freelancers. They note it if there are problems or whatever else there may be. If there are complaints or comments, we deal with them more specifically.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Are the reports made—

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I'm sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Beaulieu, but your time is up.

Thank you.

I now give the floor to Mr. Gill for five minutes.

[Dalwinder Gill, Conservative, Calgary McKnight, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I read a report which said that interpreters' pay will be moved away from a daily rate and replaced with an hourly rate. Why is the government moving from a daily rate to an hourly rate for interpreters?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

Maybe I'll start, Mr. Chair.

As we mentioned, we consulted the industry. That is a standard practice when we establish procurement. Around the world there are best practices, and we saw areas that are looking at an hourly rate and others that are looking at a daily one. I would say that it's too early because we've just consulted with the industry. We took their feedback, and we're looking. We definitely want to find a solution that is going to continue to provide our services.

We heard that and other things, and that's part of the feedback process. I'd say that some people would prefer an hourly rate, and some would prefer a daily rate. At the end of the day, we're going to try to find what is acceptable.

Just to go back to best practices around the world, I spoke about sign languages, for example. There are a lot of services in interpretation that are hourly rates. If you call someone, there are services where you get access to an interpreter for an hour to order something online. They will charge you by the minute or by the hour. It depends on the use case.

[Dalwinder Gill, Conservative, Calgary McKnight, AB]

Okay.

Earlier this year, Air Canada flight attendants went on strike because they were being paid by the hour and were not fairly considered for the other tasks that their job requires. Is there a way to know whether our interpreters and translators could end up in a similar situation where they are expected to take on a professional workload without fair pay for all the preparation, practice and research that goes into it?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

If I understand well, Mr. Chair, last year—everybody heard about it; it was in the paper—some interpreters were not happy that we were trying to identify the time. Today you heard that initially, before the pandemic, they were mainly working six hours a day in cabin when the sound became.... We were not as good as we are now. We have been working with the House of Commons. The systems are all better. We have people on Zoom. If you go back five years, none of that existed. We put in all kinds of measures, including testing and, at that time, it was an attempt by us to try to make sure that all the tests were done. That was removed from the contract at that time, and that's not something that we do.

In terms of the daily rate or the increase in costs of 70% that we spoke about, you also heard that in some cases, we're down to three or four hours. We're very conscious of that aspect. We also want to make sure that health and safety remain our top priority.

Ms. Plouffe, do you want to add anything about the tests that can be done?

[Annie Plouffe]

Yes, I can add on the testing.

Right now, the way the contract is set is that there is a provision for about an hour of non-interpreting time that includes tests, breaks or pauses for different reasons, four hours of active interpretation time at the mike and a provision for if we go over the time.

When we go over by 21 minutes, we're looking at a daily fee. If we go over by 46 minutes, we're looking at double the daily fee of the interpreter. We're looking at that. This is the cost in mind.

In terms of fair pay, I would say that the pay is fair in that respect, and we're also taking into consideration their preparation. It's how they submit their price. That is all taken into account in their daily rate, but active interpretation is about four hours. They are paid for the equivalent of four hours irrespective of the number of hours that they work. If they do one hour or four, they are paid the same rate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Gill, you have about 55 seconds.

[Dalwinder Gill, Conservative, Calgary McKnight, AB]

I read a report which mentioned that a quality index is being used to measure interpreters' performance. Can any one of you explain how interpreters are evaluated and how their performance is measured?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

Maybe [Technical difficulty—Editor] the evaluation of the quality of the interpreters—

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I'm stopping the clock.

Can you not hear anything?

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

The interpretation has been interrupted.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

But you have interpretation.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I can't hear anything. There is no sound.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Can you hear me? Is it working? Yes, okay.

We will continue. There are 25 seconds left.

[Jean-François Lymburner]

I understood the question, Mr. Chair. I will give Ms. Plouffe the floor.

[Annie Plouffe]

I'm sorry to take a bit of your time, but could you rephrase the question?

Mr. Chair, can we have the question again? I'm very sorry.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Do you want to repeat your question, Mr. Gill?

[Dalwinder Gill, Conservative, Calgary McKnight, AB]

I read a report which mentioned a quality index is being used to measure interpreters' performance. Can any one of you explain how interpreters are evaluated and how their performance is measured?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I will need that answer in about 15 seconds. Maybe there will be another time to answer it.

[Annie Plouffe]

I'll be quick.

Our senior interpreters are responsible for the program of how they evaluate. They evaluate accuracy and the way the message is being translated. They look at the fidelity with what's being said. They look at the pace also. There are different indexes.

I myself am not an interpreter, but we could provide more information on what they are looking at. The criteria used are similar to when we're giving the accreditation process.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Mr. Gill, I want you to know that I gave you a little bit of extra time, given the interruption and the disruption.

Mr. Villeneuve, you have the floor for five minutes.