Exploring municipal translation policies in Canada: The cases of Calgary and Edmonton
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12807/ti.117201.2025.a05Keywords:
Translation policy, language policy, cities, complexity theory, CanadaAbstract
This article applies the concept of “translation policy” to two of Canada’s most multicultural cities, Calgary and Edmonton. Following Meylaerts (2017), this study adopts a complexity perspective to account for the “chaotic” (Backhaus, 2012) nature of translation policy in a municipal context. The study draws on a close reading of municipal documents, interviews with municipal employees, and an analysis of the websites of each of the two cities. In so doing, the study reveals the hidden complexity of Calgary’s and Edmonton’s translation policies and questions the relevance of the concept of translation policy in a municipal setting.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Translation & Interpreting

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).