Tag Archives: Ethical interpreting practices

Deep Impacts: 2025 Highlights at The Interpreter’s Lab

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2025 was a year of deepening impact, strengthening training, advancing standards, and building stronger bridges between interpreters, institutions, and communities.

At TIL, we continue to advocate at all levels for the important contributions of interpreters and for recognition of interpreting as a specialized profession. The work that we do and the initiatives supported interpreters across spoken and signed languages nationwide. In 2025 over 150 new and practicing interpreters engaged in our training and continuing education programs. Building on current research and established best practices endorsed by international experts, TIL regularly strengthens its core curriculum and foundational ethical guidelines for interpreters.

Check out this Blog for More Information on How TIL Sets the Pace

Programs continued to align with Canadian and international standards while remaining grounded in real-world practice.

Learning & Professional Development (Membership Program)

Professional Development and Continuing Education

Interpreting in Law Enforcement – Working with the Police – Masterclass with Dr. Debra Russell (offered again in 2026)

  • 2 sessions for ASL interpreters
  • 1 session for spoken-language interpreters

Four cohorts of Interpreting in Community Settings – A Foundational Program

Interpreting in Legal & Court Settings

  • 1 cohort for spoken-language interpreters
  • 1 cohort for ASL–English interpreters, adapted from our long-standing spoken-language curriculum to meet the specific requirements of ASL–English interpreting.

Program & Curriculum Development

  • Implemented ISO/TS 6253:2024 across programs, supported by a successful full internal audit.

Updated course content across programs, including:

  • Revised Ethical Guidelines for Interpreters in Community Settings
  • Updated competency frameworks and assessment measures
  • Engaged a new instructor with expertise in training for interpreting in Indigenous languages 

Partnerships & Customized Training

  • Designed and delivered a customized training program for the Family Support Institute of BC (Resource Parent / Peer Programs)
  • Welcomed new partner agencies into our organizational training programs
  • Strengthened collaboration with professional membership organizations in Canada and internationally

Sector Leadership & Standards

Continued service as:

  • Board Member and Chair, Interpreting Committee – Canadian Language Industry Association (CLIA)
  • Certified Member, Women Business Enterprises (WBE)
  • Presentation to Canadian Translators, Terminologist and Interpreters Council Board at their annual AGM on ISO TC 37/SC 5 projects and standards
  • Ongoing leadership in the rollout and implementation of international standards in interpreter education
  • Initiated the BC Working Group on Interpreting Services, in collaboration with the Provincial Language Service (PHSA BC), a cross-sectoral initiative exploring system-level improvements to access and information on qualified language services.

Presentations & Advocacy

  • Speech-Hearing BC: Enhancing Speech-Language Pathology Practices: Strategies for Effective Collaboration with Interpreters
  • Health Standards Organization (HSO): Language Access as the Tipping Point for Equity and Inclusion
  • PSIT Networking Group – UK – London Metropolitan University (June 13); The Canadian Experience in Public Service Interpreting
  • Met with Minister Niki Sharma, BC Attorney General, to discuss language access, interpreting, procurement practices, and ISO standards.

Media & Knowledge Sharing

Excellence as Standard Practice

2025 was an exceptional year for The Interpreter’s Lab, marked by meaningful growth, collaboration, and impact. As always, we continue to evolve our programs, strengthen standards-aligned training, and respond to emerging needs in the field.

This progress is only possible through the trust and engagement of our members, partners, and collaborators. We look forward to building on this momentum together in 2026.

2025 Annual Masterclass Interpreting in Law Enforcement Settings with Dr. Debra Russell

About the 2025 Masterclass

Interpreting in Law Enforcement Settings with Dr. Debra Russell

This Masterclass will centre on best practices for interpreters working with law enforcement agencies, with a particular focus on interpreting for the police.

It is designed to teach interpreters the practical skills and knowledge required to work effectively in police settings while understanding the Canadian legal context.

Workshop Overview

This specialized Masterclass is designed for interpreters working in legal, court and community settings who want to deepen their skills in law enforcement interpreting. With a focus on real-world application, participants will engage in hands-on activities using police transcripts and case studies.

Led by Dr. Debra Russell, this interactive session includes role-play exercises that will challenge and refine participants’ ability to accurately interpret complex, emotionally charged, and sensitive communications between civilians and law enforcement personnel. Ethical dilemmas, professional boundaries, and the consequences of interpreter errors will also be explored, equipping interpreters with practical strategies to manage dynamic situations.

Participants will leave the workshop with a greater understanding of the protocols, expectations, and pressures unique to interpreting in policing contexts—and the confidence to perform their roles with accuracy and professionalism.

Participants will learn to:

  • Be better prepared to handle the demands of interpreting in law enforcement settings.
  • Communicate effectively with police personnel and navigate law enforcement structures.
  • Address ethical dilemmas with clarity and confidence.
  • Apply interpreting strategies that uphold standards in legal contexts.
  • Understand the real-world consequences of interpreter errors—and how to avoid them.
  • Reflect on personal positioning and neutrality in adversarial or emotionally intense environments.

Pricing

TIL Members: $25 + GST

Non-members: $85 + GST

PDU’s/ CEU’s: 3 (CTTIC & Partners)

What’s in the Interpreter’s Toolbox?

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From Skills to Impact: How We Help Interpreters Build Meaningful Careers

At The Interpreter’s Lab, we design our courses with adults in mind – adults with busy schedules, other studies, family obligations, and those transitioning into or out of careers.

Our courses are short and intensive, yet they cover all the essential principles necessary for professional interpreter training. We emphasize blended learning, live sessions, passionate and experienced instructors, quizzes, robust final exams, and meaningful assignments. Our top priority is ensuring students understand both the importance and the responsibility of the interpreter role, particularly in public service and community settings. Interpreters engage directly with the real-life activities of others, which requires specific competencies to fulfill the role effectively. We also focus on self-awareness – helping students recognize areas where they might need improvement and providing tools and strategies to proactively enhance their professional skills.

We equip our students with tools both during the course and for their ongoing development. In fact, we explicitly tell them: “This is your toolbox – filled with the tools you need to do the job today and to do it even better tomorrow.”

A core component of our foundational course, Interpreting in Community Settings, is a practical research assignment called Researching the Landscape. This course teaches the fundamentals: the interpreter’s role, principles, ethics, competencies, skills, techniques, and public service protocols. The research assignment challenges students to identify where interpreters work by guiding them through a set of 15 questions designed to promote effective inquiry. They explore search engines, keywords, and online research methods while paying attention to the quality of their findings.

This is your toolbox – filled with the tools you need to do the job today and to do it even better tomorrow.

A comment I often hear from new students is: “I never realized what a far-reaching and professionally-defined occupation this is”. It’s true – interpreting plays a critical role in access, inclusion, and service efficiency, yet it remains almost invisible to the public. This lack of visibility stems partly from the fact that, in a multilingual society like Canada, bilingualism is often taken for granted. Many assume that speaking two languages equates to effective communication, message conversion, and a full understanding of how to respect the voices and intentions of speakers. The reality, however, is that interpreting is a highly specialized and often hidden profession.

Through the Researching the Landscape activity, students discover a wide range of places where interpreters work. Some findings hit the mark, while others miss – but the learning process is invaluable. They come to understand the concept of working through agencies, ex[;pre what a language service provider (LSP) is, and begin to grasp that pursuing a career in interpreting involves more than language skills. It requires contract negotiation, professional networking, organizational skills, and the mindset of a freelance professional.

This assignment is one of my personal favourites. After covering lessons on the interpreter’s role, comprehension, breaking down competencies, memory skills, note-taking, sight translation, ethics, and Standards of Practice, we arrive at the final session: the practical realities of working as an interpreter. This focus on professional preparedness sets our program apart. We don’t just teach skills – we empower our students to transform those skills and newfound confidence into real careers. We help them understand growth pathways, think beyond their immediate communities, and appreciate the broad scope and impact of interpreting.

Learn more about our programs: www.interpreterslab.org

Read what is covered in the Interpreting in Community Settings – A Foundational Program