ABSTRACT
The Government welcomes the diversity and people see increased numbers of Deaf citizens relocating to large urban cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. The Deaf and interpreter communities identified bilingual individuals who could perform the language brokering needed and hence they were recruited to work with non-DI when required. Most Deaf interpreters (DIs) in Canada meet the membership criteria of the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC) by demonstrating work experience and a minimum number of hours of professional development. One of the central issues is whether training includes working with Deaf consumers who have recently immigrated or Deaf consumers for whom there are complex language and culture, and/or medical issues. Some of the informants perceive that current training focuses on working with Deaf people who are already fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), with little or no attention paid to working with Deaf people who are not fluent in ASL.
