Meet Team English for Canada

We want you to see results!

Count on our team of carefully selected Canadian teachers to support you.

Finally, feel confident speaking in English!

Each of your lessons will be personalized, fun, and one-on-one.
You can trust that we’re all highly qualified, but most importantly, we all love to teach.

Because at the end of the day, your success is our success too!

Maria Alfaro

A UBC graduate and certified by Cambridge, with years of experience teaching in Canada and Brazil

Maria Alfaro

Maria Alfaro, founder, CEO and head teacher of English for Canada, started her career in the field of ELT in 2008 at the University of British Columbia's English Language Institute, in Canada - where she met students from all over the world including Brazilians, Koreans, Japanese, etc.

Due to Maria's experience working at the ELI, after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a postgraduate certification in Project Management, both from the University of British Columbia, Maria decided to acquire her CELTA certification (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from the renowned Cambridge University.

Maria was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and since she is also fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, she understands the difficulties that students face when it comes to learning English. She can quickly identify common mistakes that Portuguese and Spanish speaking students make, and can, therefore, help her students overcome challenges.

Finally, she also takes the emotional side of learning seriously and always makes the extra effort to ensure her students feel nurtured and supported throughout their time studying with her school.

Interesting tidbits about Maria: Maria loves to travel around the world and has also been a musician since she was a young child. In fact, she has played the trumpet professionally in several orchestras and ensembles in Canada and Brazil!

Founder

“As the school founder, my goal has always been to create a supportive and positive environment for you to achieve your goals”

Matthew Lyon

TESL Certified and a Bachelor's graduate in Psychology and Anthropology from the University of Toronto - Canada

Matthew Lyon

Born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area, Matthew is a Cerified Canadian English teacher. He obtained his TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) from the Canadian College of Educators. He has also acquired a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Anthropology from the University of Toronto. Throughout his teaching career, Matthew has helped hundreds of students prepare for proficiency exams such as the IELTS, CELPIP and TOEFL. He truly cares about his students and encourages them to achieve their learning goals.

Interesting tidbits about Matthew: In his spare time, Matthew plays a variety of instruments, writes, and produces music. He also likes cooking Japanese cuisine and trying new dishes.

Educational Manager

“I’m ready to help you achieve your goals!”

Elaine Estrella

Estrella has an MBA in Human Resources and years of experience working in administration

Elaine Estrella

Estrella, our Administrative Manager, also happens to be the student who has studied the longest with our school. She met our school founder over a decade ago when she travelled to Canada to learn English. In 2014, she then became one of our school's first students! Estrella knows the value and challenges of studying English firsthand, which is why she is so patient when answering our students' questions. When you contact us via email, she'll be the one who'll be answering your doubts and completing your bookings.

Administrative Manager

“I’ll be here to help answer your questions! We want you to feel welcome right from the start”

Jazmin Laos

TESOL and IELTS training Certified from the Canadian College of Educators

Jazmin Laos

After graduating with a BA(Hons) degree, from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK, Jazmin taught English at High Schools and local businesses in Spain, returning to the UK to complete further studies in Adult Education and Training a few years later. After that, she lived and worked for three years in Australia. These days, Jazmin lives in Toronto, Canada.

Jazmin is fluent in English, Spanish, French, Catalan, and Persian. Teaching languages is her primary passion and interest, combined with the utmost dedication and focus on her student's progress.

Interesting tidbits about Jazmin: She is a certified Yoga instructor, and enjoys practicing outdoors with friends and family. She also writes a blog about her travels online.

“Teaching languages is my passion and I will be dedicated to your progress!”

Samita Sarkar

A graduate in Professional Writing from York University, Ontario - Canada

Samita Sarkar

Passionate about English, Canadian raised Samita chose a degree in Professional Writing from York University, one of Canada's most highly-respected universities.

Samita started her career as an English teacher more than 7 years ago teaching online.

Through her experience teaching students of diverse nationalities and ages, and her professional writing background, Samita's expertise allows her to quickly identify and correct her students' weaknesses. Samita is passionate about teaching and is dedicated to her students' success.

Interesting tidbits about Samita: Besides teaching English, she also works as an author, writer and publisher.

“It is a great pleasure to be able to help those who wish to learn or improve their English”

Natalie Garrison

Certified both from TESL Canada and Ontario and a graduate from the University of Western Ontario - Canada

Natalie Garrison

Born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area, Natalie Garrison earned two diplomas to teach English as a Second Language both anywhere in Canada (TESL Canada) and in her province, Ontario (TESL Ontario). Natalie is a certified Canadian teacher, adding to her three years as a university writing tutor and an ESL conversation class facilitator. Natalie graduated at the top of her class at the prestigious University of Western Ontario in Social Justice and Peace Studies and Political Science.

As a teacher, she has had daily full-time experience teaching TOEIC, IELTS, CELPIP, and TOEFL preparation, pronunciation, and general English grammar classes. Her favourite part of teaching is personalizing the curriculum and seeing her students improve!

Interesting tidbit about Natalie: She loves spending time in nature and supporting her friends.

“My favourite part of teaching is personalizing lessons and seeing my students improve!”

Megan Kia

A PhD graduate in TESL with over 10 years of teaching experience

Megan Kia

Megan hold's a PhD in TESL and she has more than 10 years of experience teaching English to students from all around the world. More than anything in the world, she loves spending time talking with and helping students, getting to know them, and understanding their joys and delights. Megan lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Interesting Tidbits about Megan: Megan is passionate about reading blogs and she is also a great baker!

“My favourite part of my job is learning more about what brings my students joy!”

Pershang Salehi

TESOL Certified with a Master of Arts

Pershang Salehi

Always enchanted by words and languages, Pershang started her own journey of language learning from a very young age. Her love of words led her to study English literature. After completing her Master of Arts, her insatiable longing for languages guided her toward teaching English. Being a French and Kurdish learner herself, she is always curious about how learning happens and it has made her a passionate and energetic teacher. Pershang has been teaching since 2011 to students of diverse proficiency levels. She completed her TESOL certificate in 2018 and her ultimate joy is when her students enjoy the process of learning and develop their skills enthusiastically.

Interesting Tidbits about Pershang: Pershang has lots of hobbies including crochet, baking, reading, and she is also a huge football fan!

“My joy comes from watching my students learn and develop”

Josh Pirie

A graduate of the University of Toronto with over 20 years of teaching experience

Josh Pirie

Josh is a native of Toronto and a graduate of the University of Toronto, where he studied modern languages and linguistics, specializing in Russian and Italian, and a minor in Finnish! Since then, Josh has been focused on helping international students with their English. He has been a teacher since 1999 in both Toronto and Vancouver, and a TESL Canada certified language instructor since 2006, focusing on helping students pass the TOEFL and IELTS exams. Josh is also a teacher/trainer; in the last several years, he has led numerous teacher training sessions in helping instructors with pragmatics in English lessons, task-based learning, speaking and writing assessment, phonology/pronunciation and skills-building in test prep classes.

Interesting tidbits about Josh: Josh now lives in beautiful Vancouver, BC, where he coaches rep fastpitch softball in his spare time. When he's not on the sports field, you'll find him at home reading about semiotics, linguistics and philosophy.

“I’m ready to help you finally achieve your goals!”

Get to know our team on our YouTube channel

Go to YouTube

Get to know our team on our YouTube channel

Go to YouTube

Meet Team English for Canada

We want you to see results!

Get to know our team on our YouTube channel

Get to know our team on our YouTube channel

Keep in Touch