Translation Services in Ottawa – Economic Profile

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, and with a population of over 1.2 million Ottawa is the country's fourth largest municipality, as well as the second largest city in the province of Ontario. It is home to such high tech giants as Nortel Networks, Alcatel, Cognos, Tundra, Cisco, MDS Nordion, Entrust, Dell, MBNA Canada, ING Direct, Clarica and MD Management, to name a few. Ottawa is also the home of government organizations such as the Government of Canada, Parliament, the Senate, and the Supreme Court of Canada.

In addition, Ottawa is a centre of education and features several higher learning institutions including the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, Saint Paul University, Algonquin College, La Cité Collégiale and Dominican University College.

With the highest-educated workforce in Canada, Ottawa has more engineers, scientists and PhDs per capita than any other city in the Canada. Languages spoken include English (50%), French (32%) and a host of other languages including significant numbers of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic speakers.

Ottawa’s Census population estimate in 2005 was 839,620 residents with a population density of 278.6 people/km². Between 1987 and 2002, migration to Ottawa added 131,816 people to the city’s population.

The extensive presence of federal government organizations has a significant impact on the economy in Ottawa. Federal regulations require the use of French and English in communications with the public and the delivery of services to the public. According to the City of Ottawa Act, the City of Ottawa is officially required to set a municipal policy on English and French.

The Ottawa region has several key sectors contributing to its strong economic activity. Its highly competitive advanced technology sector includes contact centers, defense and security, e-business, life sciences, photonics, semiconductor, software, telecommunications, and wireless industries.

Supporting Ottawa’s advanced technology sector is a strong professional services industry that has expanded and matured alongside the high tech sector. Ottawa’s professional services offer expertise customized to the needs of Ottawa’s local and global businesses. Furthermore, the presence of government and the agricultural industry notably impact the size of Ottawa’s economy.

Ottawa's international business activities as well as the strong federal government presence result in a high demand for linguistic services, particularly as far as English-French translation services are concerned. Ottawa, being Canada’s capital, is also the location of numerous international meetings and the demand for conference interpretation is also significant. Linguistic services and cross-cultural communication are important factors in Ottawa’s economy.

Click here for special offers and discounts on our professional translation and language services.