Brand Canada: The Consortium for International Education Marketing Jennifer Humphries Synergy Conference Mississauga, October 6, 2011

What is CCIEM Members of the Canadian Consortium for International Education Marketing

About the Consortium  Established June 2010; Steering Committee meets monthly, chaired by CBIE’s President, Karen McBride  Leading national associations: representing the vast majority of public institutions  Eligible to use Imagine education au-in Canada brand  Goal: Increase the share of students coming to Canada and enhance the position of Canadian education providers in the competitive global market  Objective: Support a more strategic, coordinated approach to the existing international marketing efforts of Canadian institutions and work with other stakeholders closely to take the Canada brand to the next level

Overview… We believe:  We can contribute to the national objective of bringing more international students to Canada  We can contribute to more coordinated national action through structured collaboration among our associations and with stakeholders  We can highlight pathways between the various parts of the Canadian education system to international students, parents, governments  Full engagement of institutions and the organizations that represent them is key to achieving sustainable results in education marketing

Overview… We recognize:  Collective action is required to improve Canadian educational institutions' competitiveness  Competitive advantages can be achieved through cross-sectoral cooperation – Federal and P/T Governments, K-12 through Post-Doctoral, Public and Private Sector We wish to:  Leverage the significant resources and expertise of the five associations comprising hundreds of member institutions  Work in partnership with the Federal and P/T Governments, other associations, training agencies, private sector institutions  Identify and fill gaps, not duplicate efforts

Fundamentals  We are getting our national act together in order to bring greater cohesion to a disparate sector  We need to move forward in partnership and close cooperation with other key stakeholders – communication and transparency are essential Building Effective Partnerships:  We value the role, expertise and input of other organizations at the national and provincial levels  We will explore opportunities to engage and establish partnership arrangements on specific activities that will achieve greater results through cooperation  We have engaged CMEC and DFAIT as observers to the Steering Committee; CIC invited

Action 1: Visibility  Enhanced visibility in selected market countries  Delivery in person and using social media and web  In-country representatives and key partner organizations  Alumni associations  Education fairs, conferences, seminars and missions

Action 2: Knowledge for Marketing  Enhancing the knowledge of educational institutions through training on best practices and new professionals’ training, and by conducting research on market trends and Canada’s value-added features, etc.  Enhancing the knowledge of Government officials (e.g. Trade Commissioners) via backgrounders and updates (in person and by webinar) Activities include:  Professional development  Resource development  Market research

Action 3: Communication and Cohesion  Mapping of events to leverage our collective presence across the globe  Sharing success stories, best practices and news

Action 4: Virtual Presence  Canada needs a more robust virtual presence: contemporary, exciting and targeted to the audience  Social networks, peer counselling and blogs, effective use of local languages

Action 5: Facilitate Study Permits/Visas  Collaborate with CIC to enhance international student program  CIC participation at CBIE and other Consortium member Conferences  Build on successful models, e.g. Student Partners Program

Action 6: Pathways  Canadian education has a reputation internationally for great pathways between sectors and levels  Our research is discovering to what extent this is justified, how we can improve pathways, and how we can use this feature to our advantage in marketing and promotion  Pathways research report to be launched at CBIE Conference in November, with follow-up sessions at other events by sector  Research conducted by Dr. Dan Guhr, ICG – 12 case studies and results of survey of all sectors

Activities 2010 to Present  Meetings with: CMEC, Ministers and Deputy Ministers; DFAIT, Minister of International Trade  ICEF Berlin 2010 and 2011; ICEF Vancouver 2011 – Key events for Education Advising Agents  Research: Pathways conducted 2011 – Report launch at CBIE Conference November  Webinars for Trade Commissioners 2011  Advocacy: Federal Budget 2011 – Investment and Expert Advisory Panel

Consortium Contacts Jennifer Humphries, CBIE – Paul Brennan, ACCC – Gail Bowkett, AUCC – Geoff Best, CAPS-I – Gonzalo Peralta, Languages Canada –