Manitoba Translation FAQ: IRCC, MPNP, ATIM, Pricing, Driver's Licence, Turnaround

Yes. For IRCC applications, regular certified translation is usually sufficient.

For most immigration files submitted to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, you do not need the more expensive ATIM route. Regular certified translation is the normal option for birth certificates, marriage certificates, police certificates, diplomas, transcripts, military records, employment letters, and other supporting documents.

Each translation we issue for IRCC is accompanied by a signed translator declaration, full contact details, and the seal of the agency. IRCC reviewers can verify our translators if needed. We have been issuing translations for IRCC applications in Manitoba without rejections related to format.

If your specific receiving officer or program (such as MPNP, refugee files routed through specific case-officer teams, or WES via IRCC) names a stricter requirement, send that instruction with your file and we will switch you to the ATIM route at no extra fee.

MPNP usually requires ATIM-certified translation, not regular certified translation.

If the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program asks for translation of your supporting documents, regular certified translation is generally not enough. This is one of the clearest cases where ATIM-certified translation is the safer and more appropriate choice from the start.

The reason is procedural: MPNP wants verifiable provincial certification, and the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Manitoba (ATIM) is the recognised provincial body. An ATIM translator carries a registration number that the program can look up. Regular certified translations - even from experienced agencies - do not always pass this verification step.

If you are not sure whether your specific MPNP stream requires ATIM, send us the requirement page from your case officer and we will confirm before you pay.

The difference is who certifies the translation and which receiving body needs that level.

Regular certified translation is the standard option for most Canadian official-use cases (IRCC, schools, employers, most banks). It includes a translator declaration of accuracy, full translator contact information, and the agency seal. Price starts at $59 for a one-page document, turnaround is 1-2 business days.

ATIM-certified translation is completed and stamped by a translator registered with the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Manitoba. It carries a provincial certification number. Required by MPNP, WES, ICAS, MPI driver licence exchange in some cases, some courts, and some professional licensing bodies. Price starts at $99, turnaround 2-4 business days depending on language availability.

Notarized translation adds a notary public's verification on top of the translation. The translator swears the affidavit before the notary. This route is used when the receiving body specifically asks for notarization, or when the source language has no ATIM-certified translator available. Price starts at $99, turnaround 2-4 business days.

A regular certified translation starts from $59 per page for a standard one-page personal document.

Typical 2026 starting prices for the most common requests:

• Regular certified translation: from $59 per page (birth, marriage, police certificate; driver's licence; school transcript; passport stamps from $5 per stamp).
• ATIM-certified translation: from $99 per page (required for MPNP, WES, ICAS, MPI licence exchange in some cases).
• Notarized translation: from $99 per page (used when notarization is specifically requested).
• Business / technical / legal translation: from $0.10 to $0.25 per word depending on language and subject.

Final price depends on document length, language pair, formatting (tables, stamps, handwriting), and turnaround. We quote in writing before any work starts. Taxes (GST 5%) are not included in the prices above. See the full pricing page.

Per-word pricing applies to business and technical translation, starting from $0.10 to $0.25 CAD per source word.

Personal documents (certificates, licences, transcripts) are priced per document or per page, not per word - that is industry standard. The fixed-price model exists because short certificates carry a lot of certification overhead (declaration, stamp, layout) that does not scale linearly with word count.

For business and technical work, our 2026 ranges are: $0.10-$0.14 per word for general business material, $0.15-$0.20 for legal and marketing, $0.18-$0.25 for technical, medical, and patent translation. ATIM-certified business translation is priced separately on request.

If you need a price for a specific document, send it to us - a real quote takes ten minutes and is much more accurate than averaging per-word rates. See the pricing page or upload your file for a quote.

Upload a photo of both sides of your foreign driver's licence and we deliver an MPI-accepted certified translation in 1-2 business days, starting from $59.

For Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) driver licence exchange, MPI typically accepts translations from ATIM-certified translators or notarized translations sworn before a notary public. We produce both formats; the ATIM route is the cleaner option because MPI service-centre staff recognise the certification stamp on sight.

The order steps:

1. Photograph or scan both sides of the foreign licence (corners must be readable).
2. Upload through our online form.
3. Approve the quote. Standard turnaround is 1-2 business days.
4. Pick up the certified translation at our Winnipeg office on Portage Ave, or receive it by email and Canada Post.
5. Bring the certified translation, the original foreign licence, and your identity documents to any MPI service centre.

No. A driver's licence does not automatically require ATIM-certified translation - it depends on where the translation will be presented.

For MPI licence exchange in Manitoba, ATIM certification (or notarization) is typically required. But the same translated licence may be needed for an insurance company, a car rental, a U.S. consulate, a school registration, or an employer - and in those cases a regular certified translation is usually enough.

The rule we follow: the requirement comes from the institution that will receive the document, not from the document type itself. Tell us where the licence translation will go and we confirm the right format before billing.

You need notarized translation only when the receiving body explicitly asks for notarization.

Notarization is not the default option for IRCC, most schools, most employers, or most provincial agencies. It is used in narrower cases: some U.S. submissions, some embassy applications, some court matters, and cases where the source language has no ATIM-certified translator available.

Because notarization adds time (2-4 business days instead of 1-2) and cost (from $99 instead of $59), it is best ordered only when it is actually required. If a generic checklist says "notarized translation" without a clear reason, ask the institution first - in many cases regular certified translation will be accepted.

Most regular certified translations are ready in 1 to 2 business days.

Typical 2026 turnaround at our Winnipeg office:

• Regular certified translation (single document): 1-2 business days.
• ATIM-certified translation: 2-4 business days, depending on language availability.
• Notarized translation: 2-4 business days.
• Long business or technical documents: quoted with the project.
• Same-day certified translation: available on request for many common documents; we confirm feasibility before charging the rush fee.

Business days do not include Saturdays, Sundays, or Canadian holidays. If you order on Friday afternoon, count Monday as day one. For urgent immigration deadlines, mention the deadline in the order notes and we will tell you within an hour whether we can meet it.

Our standard turnaround is in business days only - Saturdays, Sundays, and Canadian statutory holidays (including Manitoba civic holidays such as Louis Riel Day) are not counted.

If you upload a document on Friday at 5 PM with a "1-2 business day" turnaround, the work starts Monday and delivery is Tuesday or Wednesday. For weekend work, we offer paid rush options for certain document types - contact the office before paying to confirm feasibility.

Yes. Most clients order entirely online and never set foot in our office.

The full online process:

1. Upload your documents through the How to Order form. A clear phone photo is usually enough; you do not need a scanner.
2. Receive a written quote with price, turnaround, and certification level.
3. Approve and pay online (credit/debit card, Interac e-Transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal).
4. Receive the certified translation by email as a stamped PDF.
5. If you need a hard copy, we mail it free of charge within Canada, or you can pick it up at our Winnipeg office on Portage Ave.

In-person service is available at our Winnipeg office, but it is not required for IRCC, schools, employers, or MPI. The digital certified PDF is accepted everywhere a paper copy would be.

Upload a clear photo of the entire birth certificate (front and back) and we deliver a certified English translation in 1-2 business days, starting from $59.

Birth certificates are the single most common document we translate. They are used for immigration (IRCC), passport applications, school registration, name changes, marriage, and legal matters. The certified translation includes every visible element on the original - names, dates, registry numbers, stamps, seals, and back-side notes.

For IRCC applications the regular certified translation is enough; you do not need ATIM unless MPNP specifically asks for it. If the certificate has both a short-form and long-form version, send the long-form - IRCC and most other Canadian receivers prefer it.

IRCC does not publish an "approved translator list" - they accept work from any qualified translator. ATIM maintains a directory of its certified members.

What this means in practice: there is no IRCC list to join. Any agency or independent translator can produce IRCC-acceptable work as long as the four requirements are met (complete translation, translator full name and contact details, signed declaration of accuracy, and a sworn affidavit if the translator is not a member of a recognised association). Our certified translations meet all four.

ATIM maintains a directory of its members. The translators we use for ATIM-certified work are listed there - if you need to verify, we can give you the certification number and you can look it up before payment.

For MPI driver licence exchange, Manitoba Public Insurance does not maintain a separate "approved" list either - they recognise ATIM certification and notarial affidavits.

Our office is in downtown Winnipeg at 201 Portage Avenue, 18th Floor. We serve Brandon, Steinbach, Thompson, Portage la Prairie, and the rest of Manitoba online, with mail delivery.

Office address:

• Winnipeg: 201 Portage Avenue, 18th Floor (R3B 3K6). Phone (204) 298-6655.

If you live outside Winnipeg - for example in Brandon, Steinbach, Thompson, Portage la Prairie, Winkler, Selkirk, or Dauphin - the online process is identical, and a hard copy can be mailed free of charge to a Canadian address. There is no functional difference between an in-person and an online order; the certified translation is the same document either way.

See full contact information.

The most common personal documents are driver's licences, birth certificates, marriage certificates, police certificates, diplomas, transcripts, passports, and immigration records.

These documents are ordered most often for immigration to Canada (IRCC, MPNP), school and university admissions (WES, ICAS, University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg), licence exchange (MPI), work permits, name changes after marriage, and court matters. We also translate civil records (divorce, name change), military records, medical records, and identity cards.

We work with more than 50 languages into English or French for certified translation, and over 250 languages for business and technical translation.

The most common language pairs for certified translation in Manitoba: Tagalog/Filipino-English (Manitoba has one of Canada's largest Filipino communities), Punjabi-English, Mandarin Chinese-English, Ukrainian-English, Arabic-English, Russian-English, Spanish-English, French-English, Hindi-English, Vietnamese-English, Korean-English, Persian/Farsi-English, Urdu-English, Portuguese-English, Tamil-English, and Romanian-English.

For ATIM-certified translation the language list is narrower because it depends on certified-translator availability. If we cannot offer ATIM for your language pair, we offer the notarized route instead, which is acceptable to IRCC, MPNP, and most other Canadian institutions.

For rare and minority languages (Tigrinya, Oromo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Pashto, Dari, Kurdish, Burmese, Khmer, Lao, and similar) we have specialised translators on call - the turnaround may be slightly longer but the format is identical.

See the full language list.

You can read real customer reviews directly on Google Maps for our Winnipeg office.

Search "Translation Agency of Manitoba Winnipeg" in Google Maps to read reviews from past customers. Some customers also leave feedback directly through our feedback page.

A clear scan or phone photo is enough. We do not need the original.

Both IRCC and most other Canadian receiving bodies accept certified translations made from a clear copy of the original document. The certification statement refers to the copy that the translator worked from, not to the physical original. There is no need to mail us your only birth certificate or passport.

What matters is image quality: all four corners visible, no glare on stamps, handwriting readable. If your photo cuts off a corner or has a shadow over a stamp, we will ask for a re-shoot before billing.

For documents with a back side (civil certificates, driver's licences), send both sides even if the back looks blank - registry notes and authentication marks are often there.

Special-use cases should be routed by the receiving institution, not guessed from the document type alone.

Manitoba courts may require ATIM-certified translation, notarization, or even a sworn translator depending on the file type. Universities and WES require ATIM-certified work for credential evaluation. Same-day requests need a feasibility check before payment because some language pairs and certification routes cannot be rushed.

Include the exact institution name in your order notes - that is the single best way to avoid a re-do.

Yes. We translate legal, technical, marketing, financial, and corporate materials in addition to personal documents.

Typical business work includes contracts, NDAs, terms of service, privacy policies, technical manuals, product documentation, marketing collateral, websites, employee handbooks, financial statements, and patent applications. We also handle AI translation post-editing (MTPE) for clients who have a draft from ChatGPT, DeepL, or Google Translate and need it brought up to publishable quality.

Business pricing typically starts at $0.10 to $0.25 per word, depending on language pair, subject matter, urgency, and the number of revision rounds requested. NDA is provided on request, and we never use client material to train public AI models.