If you had to think of adjectives to describe the international education landscape in 2024, what would they be? Words that come to mind for educators in Australia and Canada might be:
• Unpredictable
• Frustrating
• Stressful
• Challenging
Those are natural responses given that staff at many Australian and Canadian post-secondary institutions struggled with their governments’ approach to immigration and sector regulation. Many developments were simply beyond educators’ control.
As we enter 2025, however, it might be helpful (and healthy) to think about what can be controlled. What strategies can improve communications with international students who have lost trust in a study abroad destination? What messaging is both effective and authentic? What sector-wide efforts might help all institutions to reassure students?
Today, we focus on institutional responses to tightened government policies, with thanks to Andrew Ness, the former dean of international education at Humber College (Canada); Julie Hummel, executive director, international at Wilfred Laurier University (Canada); and Rodrigo Guimaraes, vice president, student acquisition at ECA (Australia) for their contributions.
While our focus is on Australia and Canada, the article is valuable for institutions wherever they are as it is essentially about smart business practices.
Personalisation, elevated customer service, and transparency
If there was ever a time to review corporate communications, it is now. Students are understandably rattled by the steady stream of new rules affecting their ability to study and work in preferred destinations. Trust may be low, and emotions may be running high.
Through your website and CRM systems, you can gather essential information about prospective students that allows you to personalise interactions with them. Provide them with specific information on what they have indicated they are interested in. Answer all questions as soon as possible. Ask students if they have received the information they are looking for. Then ask them if there is any other help they need.
It’s key to augment the efficiency of machine automation with human assistance. Students should be invited to speak with an admissions staff member or a student ambassador. Virtual Q&A sessions and campus tours are a great idea for students to visualise being on your campus – as distinct from studying in a country whose immigration policies may be worrying students.
Andrew Ness, the former dean of international education at Canada’s Humber College, said his team helped students concerned about immigration changes last year in several ways:
“We held frequent – often weekly – town halls for current and prospective students. First-person question and answer sessions attracted attendance of between 150 and 600 students. Students were very grateful for the immediate access to staff, including me.
Regarding immigration policy uncertainty, the key message we imparted was: ‘If we haven’t told you, it’s because we don’t know the answers yet, but as soon as we know, we’ll tell you using all available messaging channels.’
Strategies to build trust
An article in MIT Sloan Management Review, “Speaking to customers in uncertain times,” notes that courteous, thoughtful communications go a long way:
“[Establish] individual connections using the word “I” [as opposed to the more corporate “we”]; and convey care through warm words and the generous use of ‘thank you,’ to ease customer anxiety and foster customer confidence.”
For Australian and Canadian institutions, an important elaboration might be “Thank you for your patience as we await further guidance from the government.”
The MIT Review advises specificity in communications, using the example of a customer wondering where their order is:
“Front-line employees who use words that describe the customer’s interest in concrete, specific terms signal that they are genuinely listening. For example, when a customer reaches a call center to inquire about her order’s delivery, she’s more satisfied when she hears, ‘Your package will be at your doorstep next Wednesday,’ rather than, ‘Your order will be there next week.’ A package is more concrete than an order, a doorstep is more concrete than ‘there,’ and Wednesday is more concrete than next week.”
In our context, for example, rather than “An admissions counsellor will be in touch with you later this week,” try: “Jane Norton, our admissions counsellor, is eager to chat with you on Friday – what works best for you: a phone call, a text conversation, or email?”
Institutional coordination and unified messaging
Mr Ness said that there is a single source of information used across multiple teams at Humber to respond to messages on the website, via email, and in person. “We ensure everyone is delivering the most up-to-date, correct information possible.”
Julie Hummel, executive director, international at Wilfred Laurier University in Canada, said her university also decided to strengthen internal systems and collaboration:
“Recognising there was little we can do to influence policy change, our focus turned to reacting in a proactive way. We looked inward, and as is always the case at Laurier, focused on the student. All our teams at Laurier – recruitment, admissions, student finance, immigration advising, student support, etc. – have worked more closely together than ever before to ensure that we are supporting prospective students and applicants throughout their application journey.”
Rodrigo Guimaraes, vice president, student acquisition at ECA, a firm that works with Australian universities to assist in recruitment, said:
“To remain competitive, Australia needs to forego punitive migration caps and instead focus on increasing public housing, infrastructure, and policies that treat migrants as partners in prosperity rather than temporary inconveniences.”
Soon enough, the implications of drastically reducing international student numbers will be clear in Australia and Canada. Future governments may well agree with Ms Chowdhury that a better path forward is to invest in public infrastructure – and increase funding for higher education. A better-managed intake of international students is wise, but poorly targeted, blanket strategies imperiling global competitiveness will not stand the test of time.
“At ECA we provide the most accurate and up-to-date information to ensure our students are well prepared [for immigration rules and processes]. We have invested in and established a more robust Genuine Student (GS) Team, a group of professionals with over a decade of experience. Their expertise has been crucial in navigating the complexities of the visa process and evolving regulations, resulting in a significant reduction in visa refusal rates. This team ensures that student applications are fully compliant with the latest requirements, increasing their chances of success.
In addition, we’ve enhanced communication with our students and agents by hosting regular information sessions and monthly webinars, ensuring they remain informed and confident throughout the process.
Despite the challenges, we want to reassure students that Australia continues to be one of the most welcoming and rewarding destinations for international education.”
Emphasise your institution’s key strengths
The damage that chaotic immigration environments have inflicted on Australia and Canada’s appeal overseas has naturally been difficult for many higher education institutions to handle. But our interviewees said there are strategies that can help.
Mr Ness said Humber is placing much more emphasis on institutional branding:
“It’s sometimes hard to remember that there are still many students who want to come and study in Canada. Our message is more ‘Choose Humber’ than ‘Choose Canada,’ simply because of the different dynamics present with respect to competition for enrolments now.”
Ms Hummel said that reminding students that the Canadian study and cultural experience remains excellent is both an honest and productive endeavour:
“The reasons students wanted to study at Canadian universities in the past are still true today. Canadian universities are globally recognised for academic excellence and have been an affordable option for families making them extremely good value. Our communities are safe, diverse, and welcoming of new cultures. The policy environment has been disruptive, there is no doubt of this, but the focus of the changes have been to continue to attract the ‘best and the brightest’ to study in our universities, work and live in our communities, and take that experience with them whatever the next stage in their journey is. The Canadian academic experience, cultural experience, and work experience has always been and continues to be an asset.”
Ms Hummel’s points suggest that emphasising more selective visa review processes may in fact increase the attractiveness of study in Canada for top prospects who have a good chance of being approved for a visa. Being approved when it’s clear that many other students are not can feel like a considerable achievement.
Sectoral cooperation
In Canada, IDP Education launched a video campaign at the end of last year that features international students speaking about why they love studying in Canada and at their institution. The sector-wide effort, entitled “There’s a future for you in Canada!” offers a powerful reminder of why Canada is such a good option for study abroad. The following video featuring students from Thompson Rivers University is just one of many on the campaign homepage.
Lean in and focus on the long term
We asked our interviewees: “What is the single most important thing institutions can do to maintain branding and trust in overseas markets amid more restrictive national immigration policies?”
Mr Ness advised adopting a long-term perspective:
“Remain present in the sending countries. We have already seen cases where institutions are forbidding travel, reducing in-country representation, etc. That is exactly the wrong move. Given major budget challenges, the scale of what we’ve been doing has to be reduced, but eliminating it creates a much deeper hole to climb out of once the tides turn, and they will definitely turn at some point.”
Ms Hummel said that transparency is key:
“Understanding your institutional identity and values is always paramount but never more critical than in times of crisis. Lean into who you are. Being clear and honest with your offerings (e.g., academic, location, housing, co-op, financial) ensures that the students you enrol are the right students for your institution. When the fit is right, students are engaged in class, successful in their studies and become ambassadors of the institution because of their experience – right from the time they first searched for a university and connected with you through the admissions process.”
Mr Guimaraes said that showcasing current and former students’ success is a wise move:
“At ECA, we have invested in both digital and in-person outreach, such as virtual info sessions, webinars, and educational fairs, to show prospective students that Australia – and our institution – remains a leading choice. Sharing success stories of our students’ employability and internship placements helps showcase the tangible benefits of studying with us, reinforcing trust and loyalty.”
Enhance the offer
Ms Hummel noted that it is a good time to consider what can be done to make students’ experience even better:
“Recognising that it is riskier than it has been in the past to make an application to Canada, we want to ensure our students feel supported throughout. We have had support from our Executive Leadership team and have been able to take quick action to address the main concerns students are facing when considering coming to Canada, e.g., finances, housing, and visa support.
Last cycle, we expanded funding in our Inspiring Lives Scholarship and launched our Stay Golden Program which addresses scholarship and housing concerns throughout a student’s time at Laurier. We are also committed to a tuition guarantee so students feel supported and have stable and predictable financial expectations around tuition beyond first year.”
Like Laurier, ECA has looked for ways to enhance their student experience. They introduced the ECA Employability Advantage programme, which Mr Guimaraes says “helps students gain job-ready skills, build confidence, and acquire real-world experience, ensuring they are prepared for a successful career immediately after graduation.”
Key takeaways
Challenging times in industries disrupt complacency and encourage innovation. As Humber’s Mr Ness observed, the current moment is just that – current – and it too shall pass. The truth is that Australia and Canada can ill afford to fall behind in the global race for international talent.
William Flanagan, president of the University of Alberta, wrote last year in the Globe and Mail that Canada sits below many advanced economies in terms of the number of people with advanced degrees. And yet graduate scholarship funding has been declining, and caps on the number of international students are already forcing programme and campus closures.
Mr Flanagan says that if trends persist, it won’t just be international students who choose to study elsewhere. It will also be Canadian students:
“As we confront economic uncertainty and navigate rapidly evolving industries, our reliance on the skills and ideas emerging from Canadian universities will only grow. University-based research is not just a piece of the puzzle; it is a cornerstone in providing the Canadian economy with the talent required to thrive globally. Without substantial federal support, we face an inevitable brain drain and lost economic opportunities.”
Likewise, in Australia, overzealous immigration policies are jeopardising economic growth. Writing in The Interpreter, Intifar Chowdhury explains:
“The economic costs of [Australia’s significant exodus of permanent visa holders in 2024] have been staggering. Research warns if the currently debated international student cap bill passes, it may jeopardise 20,000 jobs annually. With an ageing population and critical workforce shortages, these policies are not just short-sighted, they’re self-defeating.”
Ms Chowdhury adds:
“To remain competitive, Australia needs to forego punitive migration caps and instead focus on increasing public housing, infrastructure, and policies that treat migrants as partners in prosperity rather than temporary inconveniences.”
Soon enough, the implications of drastically reducing international student numbers will be clear in Australia and Canada. Future governments may well agree with Ms Chowdhury that a better path forward is to invest in public infrastructure – and increase funding for higher education. A better-managed intake of international students is wise, but poorly targeted, blanket strategies imperiling global competitiveness will not stand the test of time.
