Elaine completed a Certificate in Management (Accounting and Finance option) from McGill University.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts (with distinction) from Concordia University as well as a Master of Arts in English from the Université de Montréal.  Her Master's thesis examined the first three novels of award-wining Canadian author Jane Urquhart.  She subsequently wrote a manuscript on the life and artistic legacy of the celebrated Canadian painter Tom Thomson (1877-1917).   She conducted extensive archival and field research, visiting many of the sites frequented by the artist in Algonquin Park, Georgian Bay and Owen Sound.  She also completed two courses (Introduction to College Teaching and Developmental Psychology) in the Graduate Certificate in College Teaching program offered by the Université de Sherbrooke.