Canada Launches GCtranslate, an AI Translation Tool for Public Service

On September 29, 2025, Canada launched GCtranslate, an AI prototype designed to handle the translation of official languages across Canada’s federal public service.

Developed by the Translation Bureau within Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the government says the tool stands out for its “secure, Canadian-based infrastructure” and “adaptability to the federal public service.” 

GCtranslate is trained on the Bureau’s extensive bilingual dataset — an 8-billion-word corpus built over decades of government translation.

An earlier version of the tool, called PSPC Translate, went live in June 2025. In its first three months of operation, it translated more than 60 million words, the equivalent of over 3,000 pages of documents per working day. 

According to the press release, GCtranslate will be regularly retrained to ensure efficiency and quality. Human translators have evaluated, and will continue to evaluate, the system’s output.

Six departments will participate in the pilot phase, with each determining the pace and modalities of deployment “based on its internal needs and priorities.” The long-term objective is “a government-wide implementation.”

Complement, Not Replace Human Translators

Officials emphasize that GCtranslate is intended to complement, not replace, human translators, handling lower-risk and repetitive texts so staff can focus on high-value, complex, or sensitive material.

“This innovation complements the Translation Bureau’s specialized services by providing instant translations for texts that do not require linguistic expertise,” they wrote in the official announcement.

Beyond the official languages, the Translation Bureau plans to explore AI support for translation into Indigenous languages, as well as for writing, live speech translation, and speech recognition.

AI Push Gains Momentum

The move comes after several years of pressure on the Translation Bureau, as government departments turned to commercial and free AI translation tools to meet rising demand for bilingual communication, raising concerns about security and quality. Some even built their own systems, such as the Department of Justice, which introduced JUSTranslate to fill the gap.

The Translation Bureau first raised the idea of using AI to boost productivity back in May 2024. The following year, in March 2025, the Government of Canada released its AI Strategy (2025–2027), prioritizing the “responsible use of AI” across the public service. Translation was identified as one of the “lighthouse projects” — test cases meant to demonstrate scalable, ethical AI adoption in government.

Later the same month, the Bureau also announced a plan to cut more than 300 positions, about a quarter of its staff, over five years, with the move triggering sharp criticism. The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) condemned the move, and nearly 70 academics signed an open letter urging to reverse course.

The launch of GCtranslate is a clear milestone of the AI strategy to date, demonstrating the “government’s commitment to modernizing the public service through secure, efficient and Canadian-based innovative digital tools.”

It also comes on the heels of Canada’s broader AI push, including an August 2025 partnership with Cohere to accelerate AI development.