Colleges and Institutes Canada leads its first-ever trade mission to Colombia
Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), Canada’s national membership organization representing publicly supported colleges, institutes, cégeps and polytechnics brought together 14 member institutions from four different provinces, and 30 education agencies from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Panama for two days of one-on-one business meetings designed to forge new partnerships and strengthen existing educational linkages.
“In recent years, Colleges and institutes across Canada have welcomed a growing number of students from Latin America” said Andrew Champagne, Marketing & Recruitment Specialist at CICan. “Our members offer a range of flexible, affordable, and career-oriented post-secondary programs. This mix of academic and applied learning is attractive to those interested in quickly and effectively transitioning to the labour market and advancing in their careers.”
Decision makers and executives from local and regional agencies were selected and recruited by BONARD, global specialists in international education research, marketing and recruitment. “Participants in these one-on-one meetings had been carefully selected based on their ability to promote and attract students to post-secondary programs at Canada’s colleges and institutes.” said Maria Gibalova, Head of Business Solutions at BONARD.
The event was supported by the Embassy of Canada to Colombia with officials from the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on hand to deliver market specific presentations to both CICan members and agencies: “Colombia is one of the fastest growing markets for recruitment for colleges and institutes and ranks 3rd in Latin America as source country of students to Canada after Brazil and Mexico. Colombia, like its neighbouring countries, is an agent-driven market. This first trade mission will definitely help build new partnerships and further position Canada as a preferred country for students.” said Magali Boffet, education trade commissioner with Embassy of Canada to Colombia . Trade mission participants also had a unique opportunity to network and share their views on international education at an evening cocktail reception taking place at the Canadian Ambassador’s Residence. The Colleges and Institutes Trade Mission to Bogotá was also supported and sponsored by Scotiabank, Canada’s international bank.
