Certification by Examination

Certification by Portfolio

Associate Category

STANDARD CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION OF THE COUNCIL OF TRANSLATORS, TERMINOLOGISTS AND INTERPRETERS OF CANADA (CTTIC)

Translators, interpreters and terminologists may obtain certification in their respective discipline by challenging one CTTIC’s Standard Certification Examinations. These Examinations are aimed at professionals who would like their skills to be peer-assessed. The same exams are offered nationwide, except in Québec.

Since December 2018, ATIM has been able to offer these examinations on request, at any time of year, and the translation examination is now offered both on paper and on computer. The same applies for the written portion of the interpretation exams.

Note that CTTIC distinguishes between four kinds of interpretation and proposes a different exam for each kind:

  • Conference interpretation;
  • Community interpretation;
  • Court interpretation;
  • Medical Interpretation.

These interpretation exams are comprised of a written and an oral portion. Candidates must successfully complete the written portion before accessing the oral portion.

Cost: $600 per examination.

Eligibility Criteria

TRANSLATION

Before you submit an application to take the standard examination, you must meet one of the following eligibility criteria:

(a) hold a B.A. degree in translation AND have one year of full-time professional translation experience;

OR

(b) hold a recognized university degree (B.A., B. Sc., M.A., etc.) and the Certificate in Translation from St. Boniface College AND have one year of full-time professional translation experience (this criterion applies to translators in the official languages of Canada only);

OR

(c) have four years of professional translation experience (this criterion applies to everyone who does not meet the two criteria listed above).

What constitutes one year of professional translation experience?

One year of full-time professional experience is equivalent to the translation of:

  • 112,500 words/year (official languages)
  • 80,000 words/year (Spanish)
  • 25,000 words/year (other languages)
Registration

Candidates who would like to register for the examination must submit the following documents:

  • their curriculum vitae (CV)
  • a letter indicating the length of their professional experience and the language combination in which they would like to take the exam
  • confirmation of professional experience or of length of employment from their employers or clients

    These document must be submitted in French or English or, if translated, be certified as a true translation. They may be sent by email à certification@atim.mb.ca or by regular mail at ATIM, 200 Avenue de la Cathédrale, Box 83, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2H 0H7.

To learn more about the examination marking method and the appeal procedure, candidates can consult the Candidate’s Guide for the CTTIC Standard Certification Examination in Translation (PDF document).


OTHER PROFESSIONS

For eligibility criteria for interpretation and terminology, please contact us at certification@atim.mb.ca.

Certification can be obtained by portfolio. Your portfolio will have to meet strict criteria and will be evaluated by an ad hoc committee that will make a recommandation as to whether you should receive certification or not, based on your experience, the recommendations we receive and the quality of the work you have submitted.

Note that this process is more complex from the perspective of the candidate, and may also take more time than the exam, but it is sometimes the only way to offer certification in language combinations that cannot be assessed by examination.

Cost : 400 $.


TRANSLATION

  1. Translator with a recognized degree in translation or in a related field

    1. Fill in and send the relevant application form to ATIM at certification@atim.mb.ca, together with the required fee.

      A candidate must be recommended in writing by two certified members of ATIM or of another member association of CTTIC. The two members must be in the same professional category and be certified in the same language combination as the candidate.

    2. Submit certified copies of diplomas, degrees, certificates, and mark transcripts issued by a recognised translation school (member of ACET/CAST). (Originals will be returned to candidates. The submitted documents must be in French or English or, if translated, be certified as a true translation.)

    3. Submit the following documents:

      • curriculum vitae (with three non-personal references);
      • confirmation of length of employment from employers or clients;
      • at least 10 examples of translation work (minimum of 500 words each) with their source texts;
      • proof and testimonials from clients and employers confirming that the candidate is in fact the author of the translations;
      • other documents in support of the application.

    4. Have the equivalent of two years of full-time translation experience.

      To calculate professional experience, the following equivalents are applied:

      Equivalent of two years of full-time experience:

      • regular employment for two years – 112,500 words/years (official languages), 80,000 words/year (Spanish), 25,000 words/year (other languages), on average.
      • part-time employment for five years – 50,000 word/year (official languages), 32,000 words/year (Spanish), 10,000 words/year (other languages), on average

    5. Pass the CTTIC Harmonized Code of Ethics Examination.

  2. Translator without a recognised degree in translation or in a related field

    1. Fill in and send the relevant application form to ATIM, together with the required fee.

      A candidate must be recommended in writing by two certified members of ATIM or of another member association of CTTIC. The two members must be in the same professional category and be certified in the same language combination as the candidate.

    2. Submit certified copies of diplomas, degrees, certificates, and mark transcripts issued by a recognised translation school (member of ACET/CAST). (Originals will be returned to candidates. The submitted documents must be in French or English or, if translated, be certified as a true translation.)

    3. Submit the following documents:

      • curriculum vitae (with three non-personal references);
      • confirmation of length of employment from employers or clients;
      • at least 10 examples of translation work (minimum of 500 words each) with their source texts;
      • proof and testimonials from clients and employers confirming that the candidate is in fact the author of the translations;
      • other documents in support of the application.

    4. Have the equivalent of five years of full-time translation experience.

      To calculate professional experience, the following equivalents are applied:

      Equivalent of five years of full-time experience:

      • regular employment for five years – 112,500 words/years (official languages), 80,000 words/year (Spanish), 25,000 words/year (other languages )
      • part-time employment for ten years – 50,000 word/year (official languages), 32,000 words/year (Spanish), 10,000 words/year (other languages), on average

    5. Pass the CTTIC Harmonized Code of Ethics Examination.

    3. Application evaluation

    Upon receipt of the application, the ATIM board of directors appoints a three-member evaluation committee in charge of assessing the applications.

    The committee members are not compensated, but evaluation-related costs are reimbursed.

    The committee meets at least twice to evaluate an application.

    At the first meeting, committee members receive the application, check the administrative items, and distribute the examples of work to be analyzed. The committee sends the Harmonized Code of Ethics Examination to the candidate.

    At the second meeting, the committee members discuss the work examples and decide on whether or not to recommend the certification of the candidate to the ATIM board of directors.

    The evaluation process should take no more than three months to complete for official-languages applications. For other applications, the evaluation period will depend on the availability of evaluators.

    The candidate may appeal the committee’s decision to a new committee of three persons appointed by the ATIM board of directors.

    The appeal fee is $100 for official languages applications. For other applications, the fee is based on the actual cost of the evaluation.

    INTERPRETATION OR TERMINOLOGY

    Please contact us at certification@atim.mb.ca to obtain the criteria applicable to interpretation or terminology.

NOT READY FOR CERTIFICATION YET? BECOME AN ASSOCIATE!

Although Associates are not members and are not certified, once they have passed our test on ATIM’s Code of Ethics, they have access to ATIM training and may attend meetings and get-togethers with certified members. This is a perfect way to enter the profession and acquire experience while networking with established professionals.

Associates’ names are also included in the Directory, which is especially helpful for the public when no certified member exists in a given language combination.

You can access the application form here. Simply fill and send to certification@atim.mb.ca along with your resume.