AI-Assisted Transcription, Translation, and Subtitling for Government Video
Translation & Language Access · Accessibility
What it collects
- Audio and video content files submitted by CRA employees for transcription and subtitling. The register confirms no personal information is involved.
AI Register — Description and Involves personal information fields
- A CRA/GoC terminology repository of 30,000+ common terms in both official languages is used as reference data to improve translation quality.
- Run by
- Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
- Where
- No fixed location
- Kept
- Not stated by the Helpful Places.
- Shared with
- Accountable organization
What it is for
This system automates the transcription and translation of audio and video content produced by the Canada Revenue Agency, and generates subtitles and redubbed audio tracks in both official languages. It is used by Government of Canada employees to reduce manual effort in making content bilingual and accessible. No personal information is collected or processed. Users are informed that AI is in use.
What it collects and what happens to it
Data taken in
- Audio and video content files submitted by CRA employees for transcription and subtitling. The register confirms no personal information is involved.
AI Register — Description and Involves personal information fields
- A CRA/GoC terminology repository of 30,000+ common terms in both official languages is used as reference data to improve translation quality.
Processing
- Speech-to-text transcription of CRA audio and video content is the first processing step, converting spoken word into text for downstream translation and subtitle generation.
- Language model components handle automated translation of transcripts between English and French, leveraging a CRA/GoC terminology repository of 30,000+ terms to improve domain accuracy.
What it does
- The system senses spoken audio and video content, converting raw audio signals into structured transcriptions that downstream translation and subtitle components can use.
- The system generates new translated subtitle text and redubbed audio tracks that did not exist before processing. A human reviewer is expected to validate outputs before publication.
Outputs
- The system produces transcript text, translated subtitle files, and redubbed audio and video tracks in both official languages. No personal information is contained in outputs.
Run by
- Federal government department deploying the automated subtitling system for internal use by GC employees.
Built by
- The system is developed using open source software rather than a proprietary vendor. No specific third-party vendor is named in the register.
Kept for
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
- Outputs (transcripts, subtitles, redubbed content) are available to CRA and GC employees as the primary users of the system.
Stored
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
How to read the colours
Can it identify you?
- Anonymized data
- Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
- Pseudonymous data
- Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
- Identifiable data
- The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.
Who completes the loop?
- Human decides
- This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
- Human executes
- This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
- Autonomous
- This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.
Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.
- AI registerGovernment of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment Register — Automated Subtitling of Audio and Video Content (2526-CRA-ARC-013)Canada Revenue Agency, AI Register ID 2526-CRA-ARC-013.
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- Register entryPublished by the Helpful Places. Reference f23782d0. This disclosure was drafted with AI assistance.Schema: ai@2026-05-06-beta
What you can do
Ask about this system
Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.
Your rights
- Right to Be Informed of AI UseUsers are informed that this system uses AI. The register records that AI use is disclosed to users (AI use disclosed to users: Y).
Risks and safeguards
- Societal & cultural harmAutomated translation may introduce terminology errors or culturally inappropriate phrasings in official government communications. Risk is mitigated by use of a 30,000+ term CRA/GoC bilingual terminology repository, and by the system being in development with human review expected before publication.