Mayan Language

Canada has always been home to large waves of immigration, and the government has systems in place to help those who arrived. Canadian immigration officials provide interpreters in hundreds of languages, such as Chinese, Haitian Creole, Arabic and Spanish. With that said, indigenous Mayan languages, such as Mam, K’iche’ (Qhiché) and Q’anjob’al (Kanjobal) — which hail from Guatemala — are now in the top 25 most commonly spoken languages in the Canadian immigration courts.

It's not uncommon for speakers of these languages not to speak Spanish, putting them at a great disadvantage when dealing with the Canadian legal system and their respective cases.

IRCC courts across the country have seen a steady rise in speakers of indigenous Guatemalan languages during the last half decade, as affirmed by the Canadian government. The list of rare indigenous languages that are stumping the Canadian court system has continued to grow, now including Zapotec, Mixtec, Ixil and Popti, languages from southern Mexico and Central America.

Do you need help with Mayan language interpretation? Idiomatic Canada provides interpretation and translation services in many of these languages. Please feel free to get in touch here!