If a document you send with an immigration, citizenship or visa application is not in English or French, IRCC asks for a translation by a certified translator. This guide sums up what Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says about who can translate, when an affidavit is needed and what to send with the translation.
When you need a translation
IRCC’s Help Centre is direct: if your documents are not in English or French, you must send a translation from a certified translator with your application (IRCC Help Centre). This applies to the documents people send most often: birth and marriage certificates, police certificates, diplomas and transcripts, identity documents and court judgments.
Before you order, check the document checklist of your own application. It tells you which documents IRCC wants and in what form.
Who can translate your documents
For IRCC, a certified translator is a member in good standing of a professional translation association, in Canada or abroad. Their seal or stamp shows their membership number. A translator who is still going through certification does not count as certified for IRCC (IRCC glossary).
The translation may not be done by you, a member of your family, or your representative or consultant (IRCC glossary).
When the translator is not certified
If the person who translates is not a certified translator, IRCC asks for two extra items (IRCC glossary):
- an affidavit from the person who did the translation;
- a certified photocopy of the original document.
An affidavit is a document that says the translation is a true and accurate version of the original text. The translator swears it in front of a commissioner authorized to administer oaths in the country where they live (IRCC Help Centre). In Canada, a notary public or a commissioner of oaths can certify a photocopy; outside Canada, each country has its own authorities.
A short checklist before you send
- Every document that is not in English or French has a translation.
- The translator is not you, a family member, your representative or your consultant.
- The translation carries the certified translator’s seal or stamp with their membership number, or comes with an affidavit and a certified photocopy of the original.
- The translation is complete: stamps, seals and handwritten notes on the original are translated too.
- You have checked your application’s document checklist for any extra requirement.
Documents going abroad
The rules above concern documents you send to IRCC. If you need a Canadian document recognized in another country, read our page on apostille services in Canada.
How BeTranslated can help
We translate immigration documents into English or French, and from English or French into more than 50 languages, with certified translators from our network. Tell us which documents you have, the language and your deadline: we reply to your quote request within 12 hours. IRCC decides what it accepts, so we always recommend checking your application’s checklist first.
Read more about certified translation in Canada or our document translation services.
