Prism Linguistics provides professional Arabic interpreters and certified Arabic translation across Canada. Arabic is one of the country's most widely spoken newcomer languages, with large communities in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary, and much of the work is tied to refugee resettlement and family sponsorship from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan and the Gulf. We handle Canadian courts, hospitals, IRCC appointments and Immigration and Refugee Board hearings nationwide, on site in the major centres and by telephone or video anywhere else.
Last reviewed September 6, 2026 by the Prism Linguistics editorial team
Spoken Arabic differs sharply from one region to another, and the first thing to tell us when you book is the speaker's country. An interpreter at ease in Levantine speech may be less suited to Maghrebi, Egyptian, Iraqi, Sudanese or Gulf Arabic, and in an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing that mismatch can distort how testimony is recorded. For formal or written exchanges Modern Standard Arabic usually serves speakers from every country, and we say clearly which register a booking calls for.
For Canadian court and tribunal work we confirm in advance what the specific court and province will accept, since interpreter requirements are not the same everywhere. In hospitals and mental-health settings the interpreter keeps to a neutral, complete rendering rather than summarising for the clinician, which matters for consent and for accurate history-taking. On-site interpreters attend in the major centres, and phone or video covers appointments anywhere in the country when a particular dialect speaker is not close by.
Community and settlement work is steady: legal-aid consultations, school meetings, social services and IRCC interviews for permanent residence and citizenship. Tell us the setting, the date and the speaker's region, and for anything urgent telephone interpreting is usually available the same day.
Common settings include legal and court interpreting, medical and hospital interpreting, IRCC and Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) interviews, and police and enforcement work. See all on-site interpreting options or start a free quote.
Certified Arabic translation is the other half of most files. Arabic is written right to left in an abjad script, and official records almost always use Modern Standard Arabic, with stamps, seals and endorsements that have to be rendered in full rather than skipped. We deliver a complete English or French translation with a signed certificate of translation accuracy, or a sworn affidavit before a commissioner of oaths where the receiving body asks for one.
The papers we see most are birth, marriage and death certificates, family record books, police clearance certificates, academic transcripts and diplomas, and refugee or permanent-residence supporting documents. Spelling and administrative wording vary between Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco and the Gulf states, so a single name can be transliterated several ways; we keep it consistent with any passport or IRCC record you already hold. Acceptance ultimately depends on the receiving institution, whether that is IRCC, the IRB, a provincial registry or a Canadian court.
For documents rather than spoken interpreting, see certified Arabic translation, our full Arabic translation services, or general document translation. Every translation moves through our TEP workflow — translation, editing and proofreading by separate linguists — with free revisions.
An interpreter attends in person for hearings, medical appointments and meetings. On-site interpreting
Same-day, often within minutes, for calls, intake and urgent situations. Phone interpreting
Telehealth, remote hearings and sign language, anywhere in Canada. Video interpreting
Simultaneous interpreting for events and multilingual meetings. Conference interpreting
Legal consultations, settlement services and private appointments. Private interpreting
ASL and LSQ interpreting for accessible appointments and events. Sign language
We arrange Arabic interpreters in cities across every province and territory — on site in the major centres and by telephone or video everywhere else:
Need documents translated locally? We provide certified Arabic translation in the same cities:
Or browse every city we cover.
Modern Standard Arabic is broadly consistent across the 22 countries where Arabic is spoken, but the spoken dialects from Morocco to Iraq differ enough that a Lebanese refugee claimant and an Egyptian medical patient need different interpreters even though their printed documents are identical. Arabic has roughly 400 million native speakers worldwide, and Canada's Arabic-speaking community numbers around 630,000, concentrated in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and Windsor. In Canada, translation work is dominated by IRCC immigration and refugee paperwork, provincial family-court documents, and healthcare consent forms - and we assign each project to a translator who matches both the document language and the dialect background.
Yes. Tell us the speaker's country or region and we match Levantine, Egyptian, Maghrebi, Iraqi, Sudanese or Gulf Arabic as closely as we can. For formal settings Modern Standard Arabic is often suitable for everyone.
We provide a certified translation or a sworn affidavit before a commissioner of oaths as required, but acceptance ultimately depends on the receiving institution, such as IRCC, the IRB or a Canadian court.
Yes. Requirements vary by province and case type, so tell us the court and the hearing type and we confirm what that court will accept. We are a private agency, not a court-appointed vendor.
Telephone interpreting is usually available the same day. On-site bookings in the main centres generally need two to three business days; give us the city, date and setting and we confirm availability.
Tell us the language, the setting and the date through our quote form or by phone. We return a written quote with the exact price and turnaround, usually within 60 minutes during business hours, before you commit.
Tell us the setting, the city and the date, and we will confirm a qualified Arabic interpreter and a firm price.