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”

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!”

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!”

Ryan Friesen

TESL Canada certified instructor with several years of exam prep teaching experience

Ryan Friesen

Ryan is a TESL Canada certified instructor with several years of exam prep teaching experience including for the IELTS and the CELPIP tests. He is a graduate of the University of Manitoba. Interesting Tidbit: He is a huge hockey fanatic!

“When I’m not scoring goals, I love helping my students achieve theirs!”

Fernando Arcos

TEFL Certificate from the University of California, Irvine, and a master’s in TEFL from the Universidad Central de Chile.

Fernando Arcos

Fernando holds a TEFL Certificate from the University of California, Irvine, and a master’s in TEFL from the Universidad Central de Chile. He’s also completed his C2 Proficiency exam from Cambridge English Language Assessment plus the TOEIC, TOEFL IBT and IELTS General and Academic certifications. Currently, he is a graduate student in the master's degree in intercultural and international communication at Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C. He has more than 20,000 hours of teaching and tutoring experience in the EFL-ESL field! Interesting Tidbits: He loves watching movies and hiking with his family and furry daughter.

“I have over 20,000 hours of teaching experience! I LOVE teaching and I can’t wait to help you in class”

Lisa Guglielmi

Bachelor of Arts in Writing from the University of Victoria, and graduated from Vancouver Community College in 2006 with a TESOL Diploma.

Lisa Guglielmi

Born and raised in the interior of British Columbia, Lisa Guglielmi has a Bachelor of Arts in Writing from the University of Victoria, and graduated from Vancouver Community College in 2006 with a TESOL Diploma. She has taught with universities and private language schools in Australia, Canada, Panama, South Africa and Qatar and has helped hundreds of students prepare for their IELTS, TOEFL, SAT, and Cambridge exams. She enjoys targeting and working on a student's problem area to help them get the best score possible. Lisa speaks Spanish, French and Italian and is working on becoming a Spanish to English translator. Interesting tidbit about Lisa: She is a cyclist and a wine enthusiast who loves to travel and garden and enjoys making pottery.

“I’ve helped hundreds of students pass their English proficiency test. I’d love to help you too!”

Marc Chouinard

Native Canadian teacher that has been teaching both English and French for many years now, having worked at the Berlitz language centre

Marc Chouinard

Marc is a native Canadian teacher that has been teaching both English and French for many years now, having worked at the Berlitz language centre before joining our team. He loves every aspect of teaching and helping people of all walks of life learn a new language. Marc is originally from the east coast of Canada but now resides in the beautiful city of Vancouver. He absolutely loves the natural wonders of the area and he often finds himself hiking, running and snowboarding. His students know him as being friendly, upbeat, and dedicated to his teaching.

“I genuinely hope to meet you in class!”

Anthony Seaberg

TESL certified instructor and has been teaching English since 2013.

Anthony Seaberg

Anthony is a TESL certified instructor and has been teaching English since 2013. He has taught to high school students in Italy, corporate clients in France and Quebec and currently alongside teaching with English for Canada, also helps new Canadians develop their English skills at a community college in Montreal. Anthony has a degree in History from York University in Toronto and a Project Management certificate from McGill University in Montreal where he also worked as a technical trainer. Fun Tidbits: Anthony has a musical ear and has been playing drums since he was a child. He has recorded and performed with several music projects, loves good food, going for walks and road trips. He currently resides in Montreal.

“Looking forward to supporting your learning 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