Translation Services in Ontario, CA

Languages spoken in Ontario

55.1% of Ontario residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 22.6% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese and Tagalog, including Filipino.

Language spoken at home	Residents	Speak English less than “very well”
Spanish	78,555	31,282
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	4,370	3,112
Tagalog, including Filipino	3,172	1,055
Other Asian and Pacific Island languages	2,237	676
Other Indo-European languages	1,350	553
Vietnamese	1,105	786
Other languages	823	n/a

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates for Ontario city (tables C16001, C16002, B05002, B05006) (opens in a new tab). Figures with a wide margin of error are not shown.

Language access rules in California

Court interpreter program: Judicial Council of California, Court Interpreters Program (CIP), part of the Language Access Services Program in the Center for Families, Children & the Courts, which oversees interpreter recruitment, testing, licensing, discipline, and cross-assignments and maintains the statewide Master List of certified and registered court interpreters.
Court-certified languages: The Bilingual Interpreting Examination for certification is given in Arabic, Eastern Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Filipino (Tagalog), Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese; interpreters in all other spoken languages qualify as registered court interpreters by passing a written exam and oral proficiency exams. The Master List carries more than 1,700 certified and registered interpreters.
The rule: Article I, section 14 of the California Constitution gives a person unable to understand English who is charged with a crime the right to an interpreter throughout the proceedings, and Evidence Code section 756 (AB 1657, effective January 1, 2015) authorizes courts to provide interpreters to all parties in civil matters regardless of income; the Judicial Council has certified and registered court interpreters since 1993 under Government Code section 68562 et seq.
Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act: Under Government Code section 7290 et seq., a state department must provide information in another language when 5 percent or more of the public it serves requests services in that language, through bilingual staff, interpreters, or translated documents and forms, and must file a language survey with CalHR by October 1 of every even-numbered year.
School notices in the home language: Education Code section 48985 requires a public school where 15 percent or more of students speak a single primary language other than English to send parental notifications in both English and that language; the California Department of Education notifies districts of the qualifying schools and languages by August 1 each year.
Language need: The Judicial Council reports more than 200 languages spoken in California, with 6.6 million residents age five and older (18.1 percent) speaking English less than "very well" under 2014-2018 American Community Survey estimates.
Refugee program: The California Department of Social Services Refugee Programs Bureau has statewide administrative responsibility for the Refugee Resettlement Program, whose benefits and services are delivered locally by county welfare departments and refugee service providers.

Sources

Ontario by the numbers

Residents: 180,547
Speak a language other than English at home: 93,186 55.1%
Speak English less than “very well”: 38,268 22.6%
Limited-English households: 5,305 9.9%
Born outside the U.S.: 50,086 27.7%

Where Ontario residents born abroad come from

Countries of birth point to the languages behind the Census groups above, and to the documents (birth certificates, diplomas, court records) that arrive for translation.

Mexico30,242
Philippines4,012
China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan3,133
El Salvador1,871
Guatemala1,253
Vietnam1,234
India854
Honduras785

Detailed languages in San Bernardino County, California

The Census Bureau publishes individual languages for counties, not for cities. These are the most-spoken languages other than English in San Bernardino County, California.

Spanish760,956
Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)51,676
Tagalog (incl. Filipino)32,514
Arabic18,228
Vietnamese13,156
Korean11,554
Yoruba, Twi, Igbo, or other languages of Western Africa8,030
Ilocano, Samoan, Hawaiian, or other Austronesian languages7,820

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 2024 1-year, table B16001, San Bernardino County, California.

Language services in Ontario

Ontario questions

What languages are spoken in Ontario?

55.1% of Ontario residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 22.6% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese and Tagalog, including Filipino. The most common countries of birth among residents born abroad are Mexico, Philippines, and China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan.

How many Ontario households have limited English?

5,305 of 53,770 households (9.9%), according to the Census Bureau: households in which no one age 14 or older speaks only English or speaks English “very well.” These are the households most likely to need an interpreter or translated documents.

How are court interpreters credentialed in California?

Judicial Council of California, Court Interpreters Program (CIP), part of the Language Access Services Program in the Center for Families, Children & the Courts, which oversees interpreter recruitment, testing, licensing, discipline, and cross-assignments and maintains the statewide Master List of certified and registered court interpreters. The Bilingual Interpreting Examination for certification is given in Arabic, Eastern Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Filipino (Tagalog), Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese; interpreters in all other spoken languages qualify as registered court interpreters by passing a written exam and oral proficiency exams. The Master List carries more than 1,700 certified and registered interpreters.

Do you provide on-site interpreters in Ontario?

Yes. We schedule interpreters in person in Ontario and across California, and by phone and video nationwide, in 250+ languages including Spanish and ASL. Book less common languages as early as you can.

Do you provide conference and meeting interpreters in Ontario?

Yes. We staff conferences, conventions, trade shows, seminars, corporate training, and client meetings in Ontario with simultaneous or consecutive interpreters. For simultaneous interpreting, our own technicians deliver, run, and strike the booths, transmitters, and receivers, shipped from our own inventory.