Your English doesn't have to be perfect when you arrive in Canada. But there's a minimum level below which everyday life becomes unnecessarily hard — getting a job, understanding your landlord, navigating the healthcare system, making friends.
The good news: the last 3 months before you leave are the most effective time to improve fast. You have real motivation, a deadline, and a clear purpose. Use them.
The level you need by situation
Not everyone needs the same English. Honesty matters here:
For office work, technology, finance, healthcare
B2 minimum, C1 ideal. You'll be in meetings, drafting emails, presenting ideas. Intermediate-high English puts you at a competitive disadvantage against local candidates who are native speakers or perfectly bilingual.
For skilled trades (electrician, plumber, carpenter, construction)
B1 is enough to start. Technical communication in trades uses specific vocabulary you pick up fast on the job. What matters most is understanding safety instructions and communicating with supervisors.
For entrepreneurship or independent work
Depends on your client. If you work with LATAM communities in Canada, you can operate in Spanish for a long time. If you want anglophone clients, B2–C1 is necessary.
For first service jobs (café, retail, restaurant)
A2–B1. The vocabulary is limited and repetitive. You'll learn it within weeks on the job.
What actually works (and what doesn't)
What does NOT work
Duolingo alone — great for building a habit, terrible as a sole strategy. It gives you green points, not conversational English.
Group classes without conversation — you learn grammar but not speaking. If your class is just textbook and written exercises, you're wasting time.
Movies and series passively — passive input helps after B1. Before that, you're hearing but not understanding enough for the brain to process it.
Waiting until you arrive in Canada to practice — the English you arrive with is the English you'll use in your first week of work. There's no time to learn while you're surviving.
What DOES work
Conversation with native speakers starting today. There's no shortcut. The brain learns to speak by speaking, not by studying grammar.
Comprehensible input in quantity — listening and reading English that you understand 80–90% of. The 10–20% you don't understand is what you're learning.
Immediate error correction — a tutor who corrects you in real time accelerates progress 3–5x compared to learning alone.
The best resources by category
1-on-1 tutors (the most effective option)
iTalki — the world's largest platform for language classes with real tutors. Filter by price, specialty (business, conversation, pronunciation), and the tutor's home country.
Price: $8–25 USD/hour depending on the tutor. "Community tutors" are cheaper and great for conversation; "professional teachers" are better for structure and grammar.
Start on iTalki here — you get $10 in credit on your first purchase.
The recommendation: minimum 3 classes per week for the last 3 months before you leave. That's 36 classes. The difference is noticeable.
Cambly — native English-speaking tutors (mostly Canadian and American) available 24/7, no reservation needed. Ideal for informal conversation and getting used to different accents.
Try Cambly here — first lesson free.
Apps that complement your learning
Anki (free) — flashcards for vocabulary. Learn 10 new words per day with spaced repetition. In 6 months you have 1,800 new words — enough for almost any everyday conversation.
Duolingo — use it for daily consistency, not as your main tool. 10 minutes a day.
ELSA Speak — pronunciation app with AI that corrects you in real time. Very useful for Latin Americans with a strong accent who want to sound more natural.
For listening to Canadian English specifically
- CBC Radio — Canada's public radio online, free. Ideal for getting used to the Canadian accent
- Podcasts on topics you love — pick a subject you're passionate about (tech, history, sports) and find podcasts about it. Genuine interest makes you listen more
- TED Talks — clear, well-articulated presentations with subtitles. Start with English subtitles, then without
For reading English as it works in Canada
- The Globe and Mail and CBC News — read them 15 minutes a day to get used to the formal register of Canadian English
- Reddit r/canada — informal and everyday English on topics relevant to your future life
90-day plan before you leave
Month 1: Structure and foundation
- 3 weekly classes on iTalki (focus: grammar and sentence construction)
- Anki: 10 new words per day
- 30 minutes of listening (podcast or CBC) daily
- Goal: explain yourself in English without panic
Month 2: Conversation and speed
- 3 weekly classes on iTalki or Cambly (focus: free conversation on topics from your industry)
- Simulate job interviews in English with your tutor
- Series in English with English subtitles (not Spanish)
- Goal: speak for 10 minutes straight on any topic
Month 3: Immersion and specific vocabulary
- 4 weekly classes (mix Cambly + iTalki)
- Technical vocabulary from your industry — the specific terms you use in your work
- Change your phone and computer language to English
- Goal: job interview in English without prior preparation
Canadian English: things that will surprise you
The Canadian accent is different from the American English you learned in school. Canadians tend to pronounce "ou" sounds differently (the classic "about" sounds closer to "aboot" in some regions). Listen to CBC to calibrate.
"Sorry" doesn't mean what you think. In Canada, "sorry" is a social multipurpose word — they say it when someone bumps into them, when they interrupt, when they didn't hear something. It's not always an actual apology. Adopt the habit.
The Canadian indirect "no." Canadians rarely say "no" directly. "That's interesting" can mean "I don't like it." "We'll see" generally means "no." Learn to read between the lines.
"How are you?" is a greeting, not a question. The correct response is "Good, thanks! You?" — not an explanation of how you're actually feeling.
If you're already at B2 or C1
Work on the specifics:
- Accent and pronunciation — ELSA Speak or pronunciation classes on iTalki
- Technical vocabulary from your industry — learn the English terms for what you do at work
- Professional writing — emails, reports, proposals. Formal written English has specific conventions. Grammarly Business helps
- Canadian business English — there are phrases and expressions widely used in Canadian offices that you won't have learned in any class
The English you arrive with largely determines how much you earn and what kind of work you get in your first years. It's the multiplier for everything else.
Three months of real effort now equals one or two years of advantage when you arrive.
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