Commercial and Company Document Translation for Canada

Two variables are in play at once when commercial documents are sent to Canada: federal or provincial, English or French. This page deals with the documents a company established in Türkiye will put before a Canadian registry, a Canadian buyer or a tendering authority. A Canadian company opening a branch in Türkiye is a separate matter, running in the opposite direction.

Federal or provincial: the level of registration changes the file

A company in Canada may be incorporated federally or in a single province; these are two different registries and they produce different documents. As a Turkish company, knowing which level your counterpart is registered at also tells you what will be asked of you. You may in addition have to register separately in every province where you intend to operate. For Turkish companies used to a single central registry this comes as a surprise, and it can mean submitting the file more than once, to different authorities. That is why it matters to ask at the outset how many copies will be needed. Document naming varies between the provinces as well; a letter serving the same function may go by one name in one province and by another elsewhere. Rather than asking your counterpart for a document by name, then, it works better to ask what it is they want you to prove.

The Québec difference: a French file

In Québec the language of business life is French, and provincial legislation governs the use of French. Sending a file prepared in English to a counterpart in Montréal may be treated as incomplete in official procedures. In the other provinces English is enough. The distinction is not merely one of language: it also bears on which professional association the person doing the translation belongs to, since Québec has a translators’ association of its own and a translator registered with it may be expected in official procedures. Confirm the target province and the language in writing before the file is opened.

The accredited translator and the sworn statement

In official procedures in Canada the expectation is a translation made by an accredited translator registered with a provincial translators’ association. Where the translator is not registered with one of those associations, a sworn statement has to be attached to the translation; the statement is made before an authorised person. This is a middle way – more rule-bound than the free declaration system in the United States, more flexible than the court-sworn translator system in Europe. A file prepared in Türkiye carries the signature of a sworn translator and notarisation; ask the institution that will handle the procedure whether that will be accepted. Our document types page sets out the levels of certification document by document.

Variable	Options	Effect
Level of registration	Federal or provincial	The registry you deal with changes
Language	English or French	The language of translation and the translator
Standing of the translator	Association member or sworn statement	Acceptability
Source of the document	A Turkish official document	A certification chain is required

Public procurement and supplier pre-qualification

Public procurement in Canada is run at both federal and provincial level, and becoming a supplier usually begins with a pre-qualification registration. That registration calls for documents showing the company’s legal existence, its financial standing and its track record; some programmes add declarations on occupational health and safety and on working conditions. For a Turkish supplier this means a file in two layers. The documents proving legal identity are subject to the full certification chain, while reference letters, project lists and technical qualification documents are generally met by a stamped translation. At what level and in which language the registration is made depends on the province where the work will be carried out; settling that before you apply saves preparing the same file twice.

The certification chain: always confirm the apostille position

Canada’s practice on document certification changed recently, and the transitional period may be reflected differently from one institution to another. For that reason this page gives no firm direction: confirm whether your document will be accepted with an apostille or through the consular legalisation chain, both from the HCCH official list of parties and from the institution that will handle the procedure. The step on the Turkish side is the same in either case: the official document is certified first and the translation follows. Reverse the order and the certifying endorsement is left untranslated.

Shipping paperwork, and the commonest ground of rejection

On shipments to Canada the declaration of origin, the invoice and the transport paperwork are governed by customs and commercial practice rules; they are drawn up in English or French and do not form part of the translation file. The commonest ground of rejection in commercial files is a translation carrying neither the signature of an accredited translator nor a sworn statement. Second comes a mismatch of language, in Québec files above all. Third is the date of the document. A stamped set is expected on delivery, and even in procedures conducted electronically a physical copy may be asked for. You can send us your file through the quotation form and see how the level of certification affects the cost on our pricing page.

This content is for information; the country’s practice on apostille or consular legalisation may change. Verify the detail with the institution to which you will submit the paperwork.