Translation for Manufacturing
Translation of user manuals, work instructions, bilingual labelling and quality documentation for manufacturers selling in Canada.
What does Asiatis translate for manufacturing?
Asiatis translates what ships with a manufactured product: user and maintenance manuals, shop-floor work instructions, bilingual labelling and packaging, quality documentation and parts catalogues. Bilingual labelling is a federal obligation for consumer products sold in Canada, not a marketing choice.
Documents handled
Each document type raises a difficulty of its own — and that is what decides how the engagement is organized.
User and maintenance manuals
Ships with the product and is enforceable: a mistranslated safety instruction exposes the manufacturer.
Work instructions and job sheets
Read standing up on the shop floor, often by crews whose first language is neither French nor English.
Labelling and packaging
Constrained space and mandatory statements: translation happens inside the template, not against it.
Quality documentation and ISO procedures
A numbered structure the translation preserves down to the reference, so cross-audits stay possible.
Parts catalogues and bills of materials
High volume, massively repetitive content: this is where memory changes the cost.
Datasheets and certificates of conformity
Short, heavily standardized documents, often demanded by the end customer or by customs.
Industry vocabulary
A few terms where the calque is expensive. They enter the account glossary on the first engagement.
- Gamme de fabrication
- Renders "routing" — the sequence of operations. Nothing to do with a product range.
- Serrage au couple
- Renders "torque tightening". A badly converted torque value breaks the part or leaves it loose.
- Rebut
- Renders "scrap". Distinct from "retouche" (rework), with which it is regularly confused.
- Poka-yoke
- A Japanese term kept as is in both languages; translating it as "error-proofing device" loses the reference to the method.
Applicable regulatory requirements
What makes translation mandatory in this sector, and under whose authority. We tell you what applies to your situation before the quote, not after the invoice.
Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act
Mandatory information on the package of a consumer product is bilingual everywhere in Canada.
Official source: Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act — Justice CanadaWHMIS 2015
Labels and safety data sheets for hazardous workplace products are provided in both languages.
Official source: WHMIS — Health CanadaCharter of the French Language (Bill 96)
In a Quebec business, instructions for use, catalogues and technical documentation given to staff are in French.
Official source: Charter of the French Language (CQLR c. C-11) — LégisQuébecCSA standards and conformity requirements
Standardized statements and symbols on a certificate of conformity carry across without rewording.
Official source: CSA Group — standards
Last regulatory review: July 27, 2026. Provided for information only. This is not legal advice. Consult legal counsel for your own situation.
Most requested language pairs
Standard translation rates per word. Certified translation is billed differently and delivered in 2 to 3 business days.
| Language pair | Standard rate per word |
|---|---|
| English ↔ French (Quebec/Canada) | $0.17 – $0.19/word |
| English ↔ Mandarin (Chinese) | $0.17 – $0.19/word |
| English ↔ German | $0.18 – $0.20/word |
| English ↔ Vietnamese | $0.18 – $0.20/word |
The full grid is on the pricing page.
A representative engagement
A foreign manufacturer entering Canada
A manufacturer based outside Canada wants to sell here and finds that packaging, manual and labelling must be bilingual before the first shipment. The engagement starts with labelling, because that is what blocks market entry, and because the available space forces wording decisions better settled before printing. The manual follows, then the parts catalogue, whose apparent volume drops sharply once repetitions are absorbed.
Sector questions
Do you work directly in our label templates?
Yes. Available space is part of the translation constraint: correct wording that does not fit the print area is of no use.
Our parts catalogues are huge. Does cost track volume?
Not proportionally. These documents are massively repetitive, and already-translated segments are not re-billed at full rate. This is the use case where translation memory weighs most.
Do your translators read technical drawings?
Manufacturing engagements go to translators used to bills of materials and units. Where a term depends on a specific part, we ask for the drawing rather than pick by inference.
Do we have to translate everything to sell in Canada?
No — mandatory packaging and labelling information is bilingual, but an internal document only is if your business falls under Quebec's language obligations.
A project in this sector?
Send us your documents and your deadlines. You get a quote Quote in 1 business hour, spelling out what is a regulatory obligation and what is not.
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