Policies Public-facing policies
Multilingual Access Policy
Map.ca's commitment to French and English official-language access, plus the multilingual layer for newcomer communities.
- Version
- 0.1.0
- Effective
- May 20, 2026
- Last reviewed
- May 20, 2026
- Review cycle
- every 12 months
- Master Policy Index entry
- §4 #46
Policy text
Map.ca is built in Canada and inherits Canada’s bilingual posture: French and English are first-class on every public surface. The Multilingual Access Policy goes beyond official languages: it defines the multilingual layer that serves newcomer communities, the translation quality bar (human-reviewed where stakes are high), and the AI-translation labelling requirement that connects this policy to the AI Transparency Label Policy.
It applies to the Map.ca product, design, content, and AI teams, and to any partner producing community-facing content.
Principles this policy enforces
- Accessibility is infrastructure
- Community benefit must survive scale
What it requires
- Ship every public surface in French and English.
- Label AI-translated content where AI translation is used.
What it forbids
- Do not ship an English-only public surface.
- Do not present AI translation as human translation.
How it applies
- Map.ca product, design, content, and AI teams
- Partner organizations producing community-facing content
References
- Government of Canada — Official Languages Act framework
Related policies
Accessibility Policy
How Map.ca builds and maintains accessibility for seniors, Deaf, blind, low-vision, mobility-limited, neurodiverse, newcomer, and low-bandwidth users.
AI Transparency Label Policy
Where and how AI usage is disclosed to users across Map.ca surfaces, plus the hybrid hosting and data-residency model behind it.
DeafMap and Sign Language Policy
How Map.ca supports the Deaf community: sign-language layers, captioning, and Deaf-community-led design.