Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

General Questions

1. How up-to-date is the information posted on the ONTERM site?

2. When searching ONTERM, is it necessary to type in French accents and capital letters?

3. Why are my searches in ONTERM not always successful?

4. How can I be sure that I have exhausted all options for finding the information I want from ONTERM?

5. If an official government name appears in a legal context such as a contract, should I reconfirm its French equivalent with the Government Translation Service?

6. Should I use an official government name that appears in ONTERM even if it pertains to a different ministry or agency?

7. I'm trying to find a name using the indexes, but the 3-letter anchors at the top all are the same. Why?

8. What happened to the generic name reference list?

9. I have a text to be translated from Japanese into English. Where can I get some help?

10. How can I get more information on a ministry program? How can I locate and contact a specific office within a ministry?

11. Where can I find Ontario government publication titles or titles of government forms?

12. Where can I access Ontario bills, statutes and regulations?

13. Where can I find a bilingual list of ministry names and their acronyms?

14. What is the equivalent for "classified" and "non-classified" in the context of translating job ads?

15. What does the English acronym "RFP" stand for and what is its French equivalent?

    Technical Questions

16. I just found a broken link. What should I do?

17. What can I do if I can't connect to the ONTERM site?

1. The databases and Web site pages are updated regularly. The date the site was last updated is posted at the bottom of each page. At the bottom of each record, you can find the creation date and, where applicable, the date the record was last updated.  
   
   
2. No. Click here for details on French accents and capital letters.  
   
   
3. ONTERM was developed in response to client requests for official names pertaining to the Ontario government. Records are added on a regular and on-going basis in response to new requests. Don't hesitate to call the Hotline at 416 327-2723 or to fill in an on-line request as this will allow us to add the official name you needed to our site. Please keep in mind, when searching ONTERM, that the site contains only official names specific to the Ontario government (excluding titles of Ontario government publications) . 
   
   
4. Check the on-line help for tips on search techniques. If you still cannot obtain the information you are seeking and your request is within our mandate, call the Terminology Hotline (Government Translation Service) at 416 327-2723, fax us at 416 327-5541 or use our online terminology request form  
   
   
5. Yes, we suggest that users of the ONTERM site verify official government names wherever their use may have any legal implications. For verification call the Terminology Hotline (Government Translation Service), at 416 327-2723, fax us at 416 327-5541 or use our online terminology request form . 
   
   
6. No. In such cases, it is best to call the Terminology Hotline at 416 327-2723 for confirmation.  
   
   
7. Please refer to the note on the Browsing the Index page . 
   
   
8. The generic names no longer appear as a separate reference list. Instead, they were integrated in ONTERM as a separate database. For a description of the Generic Names database, see the Sort by Database page.  
   
   
9. The Government Translation Service and the ministry translation centres handle translation requests from English to French and from French into English only for clients within the Ontario Public Service. The Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO) provides the names of certified translators specialized in various languages or technical areas. For more information, you can phone the ATIO at 1 800 234-5030 or visit their website at http://www.atio.on.ca/.  
   
   
10. If you know under which ministry the program or office falls, you may wish to contact the public relations or communications branch of that specific ministry directly to obtain the information. If you are not sure of the ministry involved or need to obtain contact information, ServiceOntario, which provides a bilingual information and referral service, can refer you to the appropriate person or office. You can reach ServiceOntario by phone at 416 326-1234 or 1 800 267-8097 (toll free) or through their feedback form. Alternatively, you can search the online INFO-GO database at http://www.infogo.gov.on.ca/infogo/.  
    
    
11. You can verify titles of Ontario government publications in the ServiceOntario Publications online catalogue at: http://www.publications.serviceontario.ca/ecom.Titles of publications, forms and similar documents may also be obtained by contacting the communications or public relations branch of the appropriate ministry or agency or by searching their Web sites.  
    
    
12. You can access the statutes and regulations of Ontario online at: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/. First, second and third readings of bills can be found on the Legislative Assembly's Web site at: http://www.ontla.on.ca/  
    
    

13. The Reference Lists section of the ONTERM site contains bilingual lists of current ministries, and former ministries. This section also has bilingual lists for members of the Executive Council, Deputy Ministers and Parliamentary Assistants. In addition, you can find bilingual glossaries of language used in ministry news releases, in government financial documents, government Web sites and in government Job Ads, as well as a bilingual list of electoral districts.  
    
    
14. This information is part of our Bilingual Glossary of Language used in Job Ads.  
    
    
15. This information is part of our List of Ontario Commonly Used Abbreviated Forms.  
    
    
16. Let us know! ONTERM contains links not only within our own site but also to other Ontario government sites and to sites outside the government. If we have an outdated link on our site, please let us know by calling us at 416 327-2711 or by fax at 416 327-5541.  
    
    
17. If you experience problems when trying to access ONTERM, you should first check that you have entered the correct address: http://www.onterm.gov.on.ca. If you still can't access the site, please report the problem to us by calling 416 327-2711. We will investigate and remedy the problem as soon as possible.