MLI Homestay

MLI is a well organized and detail oriented international student program that does it's best to match students with like-minded families throughout Canada. This past year has been wonderful under the guidance and supervision of Tracey Miranda. She has been incredibly insightful, always offering helpful suggestions and advice when needed. Her support and encouragement have been extremely important especially during Covid. Our family is very happy to be hosting with MLI & we look forward to hosting future students.

I reached out to MLI approx 6 months ago through an online add. They responded within the day and I had an in-person interview set up. Things have rolled very quickly since. We are currently hosting our first 2 girls through MLI and we are VERY impressed with the communication we recieve from them. The ability to reach out when needed and quickly get a response is fantastic. We have worked with other hosting agency's and they lacked communication. We are preparing to continue hosting with MLI because of their exceptional communication!!!

My family has been hosting students with MLI Homestay for many years. We originally started 9 years ago with a Japanese student coming for just two weeks. We thought would be a good introduction for us to the program. We did this for the following two summers, then had to take a break for a few years. 3 years ago, we heard that MLI was in urgent need of a family for a student coming for the school year from China. We didn't think about hosting for a full school year as the next step, but we are sure glad we did. Our student ended up staying with us for almost two years, due to the pandemic lockdowns, and we really enjoyed our time with her. We decided to continue hosting students for the school year. It has been a great experience for our daughter who is now a teen to have an older sister figure in the house. Each MLI Coordinator that we have worked with over the years, as been caring and attentive. It is a wonderful experience that I highly recommend to other families.

Hosting with MLI has been a wonderful experience. Our coordinator is always very accessible and helpful. We never worry about not knowing what to do in any situation because he is just a quick text, email or call away. We have been fortunate to have wonderful students stay in our home. They have all been respectful, engaged and a ton of fun. I highly recommend this very supportive organization.

One star because there is not an option to give zero.My daughter has been living in Canada as an exchange student for 10 months. First of all, I want to clarify that we are very happy and satisfied with our local agency in Spain, but the canadian part with MLI Homestay was a complete disaster. I will let the spanish side know about it for sure!!!She was assigned to a host family: a single mother and her daughter. At first, this wasn't a problem for us at all, but this was her first year hosting exchange students and she played hard by hosting two, what ended up being too much on her plate. As weeks went by, she took side with the other student, making my daughter feel that she was being left behind.After 2 months my daughter started to have problems: a broken window in her room (with a hole in the side, that the host mother wouldn't fix) with a canadian winter ahead, the plugs did not work for several days, there was no plug next to the study table, very poor light in the ceiling, endless hours traveling by car for a quick visit to relatives, missing classes because: I always go on vacation this week"

MLI is a very good homestay organization that provides support to both the international students and their homestay families. They respond to most calls and emails within a reasonable time. They are usually supportive and helpful. I recommend them if you enjoy teens in your home!

Having hosted several students from MLI and others I can tell you that it is certainly a rewarding experience. MLI is there when you need them but mostly they are in the background and it is just you and the kids

Absolutely the worst worst homestay agency you can deal with. MLI lacks basic communication amongst other things and does not have your kid's best interest. MLI has a long list of rules and guidelines on paper but does not up keep them. Local coordinators do whatever is convenient for them then lie to cover themselves. One coordinator in particular does not know his head from his foot. Imagine having someone like that as your child's legal guardian. Instead of dealing with issues they rather move around students only to have the same issues happen over and over again. MLI does not provide details on why they move students and provide little or no notice when doing so. There is no discussion etc to see if there is resolution or whether host or student is in the wrong. I will never host with MLI in the future as long as it is still under the management of Cheryl Lee because her ethics is zero. Do yourself a favour and host with Canada Homestay or any other agency but MLI.

I’ve been hosting for MLI since September 2021. My experience has been very positive, not only because of the teenagers I’ve hosted, but because of the amazing support I’ve received from Tracey Maranda, my MLI Coordinator. She was with me every step of the way. Always available when I had questions and she’s proactive when it comes to communicating with me or the students. I never feel like I’m in the dark or unsupported. I’ve noticed that the MLI Coordinators I’ve come in contact with are all very helpful and care about the host families and the students. I would definitely recommend working with MLI. Hosting has been a rewarding and educational experience that has enriched my life and opened my heart wider. I say take the leap, you won’t regret it!