One aspect that makes translation creative is that accuracy is not always the same as literalness. A phrase can be translated word for word and still lose its tone, emphasis, or intended meaning in another language.
This is something we encounter regularly when working with translation services in Canada, where language choices often need to account not only for vocabulary but also for context, terminology, and the expectations of the intended audience.
Good translation therefore seems to sit somewhere between interpretation and restraint: the translator has to make choices, but those choices must always serve the original text rather than replace it.