Whether it’s an employer connecting with a potential employee, a sister calling their sibling on the east coast, or someone placing a call to learn about a new government service, Asign facilitates hundreds of VRS calls across Canada 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Visit Canada VRS websiteFrequently Asked Questions
Video Relay Service (VRS) is a free, government-supported telephone service that allows Deaf, hard of hearing, and speech-impaired Canadians to make and receive phone calls using sign language. Rather than typing or using text relay, the caller signs a live interpreter through a video connection, who then voices the conversation to the hearing caller on the other end – and vice versa.
Canada VRS is available to eligible Deaf and hard of hearing Canadians at no cost, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a Video Interpreter Provider for Canada VRS, Asign supplies the qualified interpreters who make these calls possible.
VRS and VRI are both video-based interpreting services, but they serve different needs.
Video Relay Service (VRS) is a telephone replacement. It connects a Deaf caller with a hearing caller – in different locations – through a sign language interpreter over video. The interpreter voices the Deaf caller’s signs to the hearing caller and signs the hearing caller’s voice back. The people communicating are not in the same room.
Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) connects a Deaf and hearing person who are already in the same physical space – at a service counter, in a meeting room, or at a workplace – through a live video interpreter. Both parties are present together, and the interpreter facilitates communication between them on-screen.
Asign provides both. As a Video Interpreter Provider for Canada VRS, we support thousands of VRS calls daily. Through Asign On, our on-demand VRI service, we connect organizations with qualified interpreters in seconds – no scheduling required.