The Canadian government announced it will be piloting an artificial intelligence (AI) tool in six departments and agencies to help translate official languages for the public service.
Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Joël Lightbound announced GCtranslate as the “first flagship project of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy.”
The technology was developed by the Translation Bureau at Public Services and Procurement Canada. No start date was given for the pilot.
According to a news release, a previous version of the tool was tested in June and translated more than 60 million words in three months, or about 3,000 pages of translated content per workday.
“GCtranslate strengthens the use of both official languages across government and supports a modern public service that keeps pace with the digital age,” Lightbound said. “This is about putting technology to work for Canadians so services are delivered faster, smarter, and in both official languages.”
But the head of one major public service union argued full automation of the government’s translation service is “a very bad idea” when it comes to protecting Canada’s official languages, especially French.
“I think this is going to have a negative impact directly on francophone communities,” said Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees. “AI loses a lot of the nuance of the language. A francophone reading an AI translation knows they’re reading an AI translation.”
Prier said the technology is best employed alongside human translators—not as a replacement for them.
“These are people with decades of experience in translation who know how to integrate these things without sacrificing quality,” Prier said. “They’re the foundation of bilingualism in Canada. They should be at the front line of this conversation, instead of hearing about the plans after the fact.”
CBC News (9/30/25) By Jayden Dill