GCtranslate deployed government-wide to support official languages in the federal public service

GATINEAU, QC, June 18, 2026 /CNW/ - Artificial intelligence is helping transform how the Government of Canada delivers services and supports public servants. As part of its broader digital transformation agenda, the government is leveraging secure, Canadian-made solutions to improve efficiency, strengthen productivity and deliver better results for Canadians.

Today, the Honourable Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement and Quebec Lieutenant, announced a major milestone for GCtranslate, the Government of Canada's secure AI-powered translation tool. Following a successful pilot involving seven departments and agencies, GCtranslate is now being deployed across the federal public service, supporting the implementation of the AI Strategy for the Federal Public Service.

GCtranslate provides fast, self-service translations for routine content, allowing public servants to work more efficiently while supporting the use of both official languages across government. The tool complements the expertise of the Translation Bureau, where professional translators continue to play a critical role in ensuring quality and supporting more complex translation requirements.

The expansion of GCtranslate demonstrates how the government is putting technology to work in practical ways that improve operations, reduce duplication and help public servants focus their time on higher-value work. By adopting a single solution across government, GCtranslate will help create efficiencies, strengthen collaboration between departments and ensure federal institutions have access to modern digital tools.

Since its initial launch in spring 2025, significant work has been undertaken to strengthen the platform, including improving usability, enhancing the quality of translations, and preparing the tool for deployment across a wide range of government systems. GCtranslate will continue to evolve as part of the government's commitment to building a modern, efficient and digitally enabled public service that delivers for Canadians.

Quotes

"Government must keep pace with the technologies transforming how people work and communicate. With GCtranslate, we are taking another important step toward a more modern and digitally enabled public service. By providing public servants with secure AI-powered translation tools, we are strengthening our capacity to work in both official languages, improving efficiency across government, and delivering better value for Canadians. This is exactly the kind of responsible innovation that will help build a stronger public service for the future."

The Honourable Joël Lightbound
Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement and Quebec Lieutenant

"Canada's official languages are at the heart of our national identity. By investing in tools like this, we are strengthening the capacity of the public service, supporting our commitment to our two official languages, and ensuring Canadians continue to receive high-quality services in the language of their choice."

The Honourable Marc Miller
Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages

Quick facts

• GCtranslate was trained using the Translation Bureau's vast corpus of high-quality bilingual texts. Translators assess the quality of the results. Its AI model will be retrained periodically using professionally curated data to ensure continuous improvement and up-to-date vocabulary.
• GCtranslate produces translations adapted to government terminology and to Canada's cultural and linguistic realities.
• Since its launch, the tool has been used to translate over 300 million words, equivalent to more than 800,000 pages of documents.
• The roll-out started on April 30, 2026, and will proceed incrementally across government until March 2027.
• GCtranslate is the first lighthouse project under the AI Strategy for the Federal Public Service 2025‑2027.
• In addition to official languages translation, the Translation Bureau will explore the support that AI can provide for translation into Indigenous languages, as well as for writing, interpretation and voice recognition.

Associated links

• GCtranslate: Using AI to create a more agile, modern and bilingual public service
• Guidance from the Translation Bureau on the use of AI for translation

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SOURCE Government of Canada

Contacts: Laurent de Casanove, Director of Communications, Office of the Honourable Joël Lightbound, [email protected]; Media Relations, Public Services and Procurement Canada, 819-420-5501, [email protected]