What you need to know

The Bank of Interpreters of the Capitale-Nationale (BICN) is open from Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The 24/7 emergency interpreter service is used to request an interpreter in unpredictable emergency situations outside of business hours, i.e. evenings, nights, weekends and holidays.

Step 1: Obtain all necessary information from the applicant

  • User: first name, last name and language 
  • Applicant: First name, last name and telephone number (must be easily reachable)
  • Professional: First name, last name 
  • For in-person interpretation: place and time of the meeting 
  • For telephone Interpretation: time of call, expected duration (if known)

N.B. You can ask the interpreter to contact you with more details about the meeting. 

Step 2: Contact the coordinator or on-call manager at your facility

The coordinator (or on-call manager) has access to the list of BICN interpreters who are available in the evening, at night and on weekends to meet urgent needs.

  • Send the information obtained in Step 1 to your coordinator;
  • The coordinator/manager will arrange for an interpreter and pass on this information;
  • The coordinator will then call you back to let you know if an interpreter is available and will provide you with the details.  

Step 3: Submit a formal request to BICN

Even if the interpreter has been found and the service delivered, it is essential to submit a formal request to BICN in order to ensure proper billing. You must identify the name of the interpreter who performed the service. 

Please send your request by one of the following methods:

  • By phone: 418 520-3430, by leaving a message on the voice mail.
  • By email: interpretariat.ciussscn@ssss.gouv.qc.ca
  • By fax: 418 684-2294  
  • Via Jérôme+: send the information to a user of the Jérôme+ web application at your facility. 

For more information