ready for the real world.”
Advocacy for the language sector, along-
side education for the public and promo-
tion of industry members, are some of the
core decrees of AILIA. Protecting the Ca-
nadian language industry is another initia-
tive the organization is presently working
on. There has been an influx of foreign pur-
chasers and suppliers coming into Canada
without the same credentials as the mem-
bers of AILIA. Because of globalization, it
is easier to penetrate the market. With so
many players on the stage, competition in
the industry has become a major concern
for Canadian companies. “Organizations
that are not even in Canada are approach-
ing our market and sometimes that can
drop the rates for our members,” Bendana
said.
The challenges of the language industry
don’t end there, unfortunately. Devising
the standards is relatively easy compared
to implementing them, which is some-
thing that doesn’t happen overnight. De-
spite AILIA’s long-time involvement in the
field, national standards didn’t come into
existence until 2007, and only last year was
an accreditation system for interpreters
created. Furthermore, the standards are
not yet mandatory. Whether they become
enforced or not will be determined by the
marketplace. Nonetheless, both Bendana
“I think it is very noteworthy to say that in fact there are no other countries that
have created their own national standards in translation.” Maryse Benhoff, vice
president
SEPTEMBER 2016
H
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