Canadian Cancer Society- External translation partner
The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) is a charity that supports life-saving cancer research and cancer support programs. Their operations, marketing, communications, and digital media professionals use their skills to support this work. As the CCS is a bilingual organization, their in-house translation staff provides cancer information and support across all of Canada, in both English and French, to ensure equal access to health information. In addition, they ensure that all cancer-related information, services, and communications are accessible, accurate, and culturally appropriate across languages, while supporting outreach, fundraising and patient education nationwide.
The Problem
While the CCS has its own communications team in Quebec, their translators are often working “at capacity,” which means they must regularly outsource some of their overflow work. They needed an external translation partner who could fill in the gaps when needed, acting as an extension of their internal team. In addition, they needed to be able to rely on a translator who could adapt Quebec-centric content for the rest of Canada.
Lastly, as the CCS has a comprehensive writing manual for both their French and English content, this would require working with a single resource person who would gradually get to know their organization and be able to ensure consistency in terminology and writing style.
The Solution
Work for the Canadian Cancer Society is assigned to a single resource at Word+Style Translations who is familiar with the intricacies of translation from Quebecois French to Canadian English. Often referred to “transcreation,” not just translation, this work involves adjusting tone and messaging for different audiences, especially Quebec versus the rest of Canada.
In addition, the designated translator at Word+Style regularly adds to a termbase, a structured glossary of approved terms, specific to the CCS. This helps keep tone and terminology aligned across documents, and builds a coherent “voice” for the organization.
The Outcome
The CCS relies on Word+Style on a nearly weekly basis, and has the peace of mind knowing that the translations they receive will be on-brand and use the correct terminology. As the designated translator at Word+Style has become familiar with the organization, there is a reduced need for back-and-forth questions to confirm terminology and phrasing. This improves the translator’s decision-making ability and decreases the turnaround time as she can produce work on a tighter schedule, while still providing quality work.
Thank you for the translation! We’re more than happy to have you as part of our freelance team.
~ Christine Champagne, Translation Manager, Canadian Cancer Society