The real cost of a “free” translation tool

A Francophone from British Columbia received a ticket from an Ontario municipality requiring him to pay thousands of dollars in fines. Although the notice was bilingual, the website of the Provincial Offences Court was in English only. The Francophone also tried to get telephone service in French from the municipality, but the automated system did not provide a French option, and none of the available staff were bilingual.

RESULT: We reached out to the Ministry of the Attorney General about this case. The municipality acts as a third party for the administration of provincial offences. As a result of our intervention, some measures were taken and others are under way. A bilingual administrative clerk of the court has since been hired. The Ministry told us the municipality’s telephone system is now compliant with Measure 2 of Ontario Regulation 544/22, which stipulates that “[a]ny automated telephone systems shall provide persons, at the start of the call, the option of receiving services via telephone in English or French.”

As for the website, the municipality had initially decided to use a free online translation service. Our Office contacted the Ministry to raise concerns about the site’s terms of use, which stated that “you [the website user] agree that when a translation is provided, you assume any risk of inaccuracy, errors or omissions it may include. You agree NOT to hold the City of […] responsible for any loss or damage resulting from your trust in or use of this tool.

In light of our intervention, the Ministry informed the municipality that the use of an automated translation tool does not meet the government’s expectations under the obligations of the French Language Services Act. A full translation of the website is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024. We will follow up on this case as warranted.


Learn more about the French Language Services Unit which answers questions and takes complaints about services in French.
Read about how we helped other people in our Selected cases.