Canada, a major translation hub
In September 2014, the French-language daily La Presse reported that roughly 10% of the world’s translation takes place in Canada, and that half of this impressive volume is carried out in Quebec alone, accounting for 5% of the world’s translation.
The federal and provincial governments are of course major players in the Canadian translation industry, but so are businesses.
According to a story discussing Canada’s translation market, “by 2018, 30% of new jobs in the translation sector will come from increased demand by businesses, notably those that offer bilingual English-French or French-English services.” If this fact surprises you, remember that only 17.5% of Canadians speak both English and French.
« Countless businesses publish their web sites in two or more languages, for marketing purposes and to affirm their presence in both the English- and French-speaking markets. Others translate their online content out of legal, moral or civic obligation. »
In Quebec, the Charter of the French Language is an important tool for promoting the French language in business—particularly, the use of French as the normal and everyday language of work. If your business has more than 100 employees, the Charter requires that you form a francization committee.
English is not protected by Quebec law, but the English translation of your website and all your communication tools is often a necessity, as well as a sign of your company’s professionalism.
If your organization’s head office is located in English Canada, remember that 22% of the Canadian population lives in Quebec, and that the vast majority of these 8 million inhabitants speak French.
If your web site exists in English only, ask yourself if you can afford to miss out on this important market.
Why offer Internet users a bilingual site ?
- Internet users—your prospects—want to consult your web site in the language of their choice (mother tongue or adopted language).
- If you deprive users of this option, there is a good chance they will go to a competitor’s site instead.
- While French is spoken by 274 million people worldwide, English is the language of business. Thus, the English version of your site is your gateway to the world.
Two languages, one brand image
If you too judge that having a bilingual web site makes good business sense for your organization, make sure to use professional translators so that your online content projects the same professional image in both languages.
Neglecting the quality of either the French or the English version of your site can be costly, because disappointed clients and 
prospects always have more to say that those who are satisfied.
From the web’s very beginnings, CTC’s experts have made translating online content their specialty. Patiently, meticulously, they transpose each element of your site—from attention-grabbing headings, slogans and running text (or discontinuous content) to product descriptions and the more technical content—into the target language, while respecting all the subtle nuances of the source language and taking into account the specific characteristics of the target market (“localization”).
Two options for translating your web site
A. Translation of content in MS-Word
This is how most translation work has been done in the industry since the advent of the Internet: our linguists deliver the translation to the client in a Word document, and the client or supplier then puts the content online.
B. Translation of content plus Web integration
In this case, CTC takes care of integrating the texts directly into the administrative interface or HTML code.
In other words, we work with your content directly using your choice of HTML editor or one of the common CMS platforms such as : WordPress, Joomla, Typo3 et Spip, parmi d’autres.
Generally speaking, web site translation includes:
- The text of your pages and articles, including captions for illustrations and photo credits ;
- menus headings;
- buttons and text contained in graphic elements ;
- translation of meta tags (titles, descriptions, alternate text).
What’s more, our translation firm is one of the only in Canada to offer SEO translation.
This service goes far beyond that of our competitors: it covers all on-page optimization, which is key to optimizing your site for search engines.