Prism Linguistics arranges interpreters and certified translation for people from Kosovo across Canada, matched to Albanian or Serbian as the document and speaker require. There is no separate "Kosovan" language: Kosovo's official languages are Albanian and Serbian, and most people from Kosovo speak the Gheg variety of Albanian. Many families arrived as refugees in the late 1990s and settled in the larger cities, and the same distinctions still shape how a file is handled today.
Last reviewed September 6, 2026 by the Prism Linguistics editorial team
For speech, most people from Kosovo are matched with a Gheg Albanian interpreter, while a Serbian speaker from Kosovo is matched with Serbian, so we ask the speaker's language at intake and place the right one. Getting this right matters in an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing, where an account should be given in the language a person actually thinks in.
Interpreters attend IRB refugee protection hearings, IRCC interviews, legal-aid consultations, and hospital and clinic appointments under PHIPA and PIPEDA, on site in the major centres and by telephone or video anywhere in Canada. We are a private agency, not a court-appointed vendor.
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.
Kosovo issues civil records in Albanian, and some older or minority records in Serbian, which uses both Cyrillic and Latin, so a birth, marriage or death certificate is translated from whichever language the document is actually in. A family may hold both from different periods, so we confirm the language of each record before starting.
Where a record is handwritten or a name is spelled several ways, a sworn affidavit before a commissioner of oaths can set out how a name or date was established, and we keep spellings consistent with the passport. A translation is issued by a certified translator or supported by that affidavit, and acceptance ultimately depends on the receiving institution such as IRCC, the IRB or a provincial registry.
For documents rather than spoken interpreting, see certified Kosovan translation, our full Kosovan 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 Kosovan 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 Kosovan translation in the same cities:
Or browse every city we cover.
"Kosovan" is sometimes used to refer to the language of Kosovo, but in fact Kosovo has two official languages: Albanian (the majority) and Serbian (used by the country's Serbian minority). Kosovan translation requests are therefore usually resolved to either Albanian or Serbian depending on the source document - see our Albanian and Serbian pages for details. Most Canadian Kosovan translation work is Albanian, tied to the refugees Canada resettled during the 1998-99 Kosovo War and the migration that followed.
No. Kosovo's languages are Albanian, usually the Gheg variety, and Serbian. We translate and interpret whichever applies to you.
We translate it from Albanian into English as a certified translation, and we handle Serbian records too. Acceptance ultimately depends on the receiving institution.
Usually a Gheg Albanian interpreter for a Kosovar Albanian speaker, or a Serbian interpreter for a Serbian speaker. Tell us the speaker's language at intake.
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 Kosovan interpreter and a firm price.