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In honor of Canada Day, we celebrate a nation whose cultural make-up has been shaped over time by immigrants and their descendants. Even more, Canada – like America – stands to grow much more diverse in future years, as much of its population growth is expected to come from immigration.

Here are some fast facts about the shifts that are happening within Canada’s population.

We are often asked by clients and prospects to provide a sample translation as a means of comparing quality. While this seems like a logical step, we’ve often found these organizations become the proverbial “dog that caught the car” – they have what they asked for, but are unsure what to do next.

The truth is that language is subjective. In this article, we’ll share how you can establish clear criteria to determine which translation service is best for you.

Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Its population of nearly 42,000 is growing increasingly diverse.

Timmins has always been linguistically diverse, as more than half the population is bilingual in English and French. The Timmins Police Service has long had multilingual officers who could communicate with the public in English, French, or Cree.

But the community has seen cultural diversity expand in unpredictable ways, and police found themselves in need of interpretation in numerous of other languages. Police Chief John Gauthier said the community has seen a rapid increase in international students and their families relocating from Southern Ontario.

Last week, the Trump Administration announced a rollback of language access notifications for limited-English speakers and other important civil rights protections. The regulations were included in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.

Section 1557 is the nondiscrimination provision of the ACA. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in certain health programs or activities, including those that receive federal funding.

The rising number of non-English and multi-lingual speakers in California has created significant communication barriers in healthcare settings, resulting in challenges for providers and worse health outcomes for patients.

When patients and clinicians cannot understand each other, the risk of misdiagnosis, under-diagnosis, duplicative testing and inappropriate prescribing increases. Additionally, patients that experience language barriers are less likely to seek care, build trusting relationships with providers, or adhere to treatment programs. 

Hispanics comprise just 18 percent of the U.S. population, yet they make up 33 percent of all COVID-19 cases.

This is according to a report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It offers a complete picture of who in the United States has been diagnosed with Covid-19 and how they fared.

According to the report, "the coronavirus pandemic continues to be severe, particularly in certain population groups. These preliminary findings underscore the need to build on current efforts to collect and analyze case data, especially among those with underlying health conditions."

Health crises do not affect everyone equally.

The coronavirus pandemic and recent social unrest have shined a light on the racial and socioeconomic disparities in health and health care in North America. Ethnic minority communities and groups of lower socioeconomic status consistently experience worse health outcomes, and have more difficulty accessing health care and health education.

The Mount Sinai Health System in New York serves one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse populations in the world.

The system’s motto is “Better Together,” and from the start of the coronavirus outbreak, their values drove the way they delivered language services during the COVID-19 crisis. This included:

As a company that supports more than 240 languages, we are diverse by design. Each day, we have the unique privilege of hearing a symphony of cultures harmonizing around the cause of mutual understanding. These cultures are essential – some might say they are a source of optimism for a better tomorrow.  To think that a team member’s culture or the color of their skin could be the cause of their demise is a prospect so deeply tragic that it steals our collective breath.

Multiculturalism is our lifeblood, but diversity is a continuous quest and a living promise. The world is evolving before our eyes and we must evolve with it. Like all conscientious businesses, we are using this moment in history to reflect on how we can grow.

Telehealth has the potential to improve healthcare access, but without interpreters, it may inadvertently worsen minority health disparities.

A new report from UCLA says that policymakers should ensure that telemedicine doesn’t leave vulnerable populations behind, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.