IN THIS GUIDE · Aligning French-language academic records with an English-language employer duty statement so that translation does not reshape the profession
Decide which listed profession applies before translating anything
Translation choices follow the profession, not the other way around. Identify the listed profession the role fits and the exact credential alternative being relied on, since each listing states its own requirements. A degree program named in French may map cleanly onto one listing and awkwardly onto another. Making that call first prevents a translator from choosing a professional label that no one intended to claim. Write the chosen listing at the top of the working file, with the credential alternative underlined, and give that page to everyone who touches the case. A TN request also depends on the work being prearranged professional employment for a United States employer or entity; self-employment is not permitted, so a translator who renders a French freelance contract as an employment agreement has changed a fact that matters more than the wording.
Keep translation separate from credential evaluation
Translation reproduces the source text; evaluation assesses the educational qualification. French-language records do not alone trigger an academic evaluation, but the TN regulation requires a reliable foreign-credential evaluation for degrees from institutions outside Canada, Mexico and the United States. Check the awarding institution and credential before commissioning services. One product does not replace the other. Ask the awarding institution for an attestation naming the programme, the credential conferred and the date, since that single record usually settles a dispute faster than a transcript read line by line. Where an evaluation is required, commission it from the original French records and not from the English translation, so the evaluator assesses what the institution issued.
Have the employer describe duties rather than restate a title
An internal English job title is written for a company, not for an immigration file. Ask the employer to set out what the person will actually do: the tasks, the professional judgment involved, the outputs, and who the work supports. Duties described in concrete terms can be compared against the listing directly. A title alone invites a reviewer to guess at the underlying profession, and the guess may not match the credential. A useful duty statement runs to a page and answers four questions: what is produced, on whose instructions, using which body of professional knowledge, and for how long. Ask the employer to name the end date and the remuneration, because a letter that is silent on duration invites the reader to treat the position as open-ended when the classification is temporary.
Reconcile the two files with one consistent vocabulary
Before anything is finalized, place the translated records and the employer letter side by side. Confirm that the program name, the credential name, the institution, and the applicant's name including accents appear the same way throughout. Where the translation and the letter use different words for the same thing, decide which wording is accurate and correct the other. Inconsistency is easier to fix now than to explain later. Read the two files against each other aloud if necessary, because differences in accents and hyphenation survive silent proofreading. Keep a dated note of every wording decision and of who approved it, so a later reviewer does not reopen a settled question. If a difference cannot be reconciled because the underlying records genuinely disagree, say so plainly and attach the explanation instead of choosing the more convenient version.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.