00:37:01 · Craig Riggs
[00:37:01] S4: I think, first of all, it's that uncertainty that, as our discussion reveals, I think is in some ways the primary issue. We all have been very focused on different types of policy settings that have been in focus over the last year, but one of the most important effects of all that, as we've been saying today, is the type of uncertainty and confusion that it creates in the marketplace. And I think that both Michal and Shawn are pointing us to some important steps that both schools and agents can take to try to respond to that uncertainty or to create as much certainty as possible in that environment. And that includes things like really evaluating prospective students and applications very quickly, very carefully, to ensure that as an institution, you're focusing on the students that are best fitted for your institution or school, that have the best chance of success both in their studies and initially in terms of getting indeed a student visa to begin their programs. I think that there are a number of steps that both schools and agents can take in that respect. It begins by, first of all, very well versed in the regulations and the requirements of the process, as Michal has suggested. But I think it also involves working very closely, schools and agents together with their students, to ensure that those applications are as complete and correct and, as they can be and have the best chances of success. We see institutions, taking additional steps as well in terms of engaging additional services, whether those are immigration lawyers or other sort of allied services, or even bringing qualified immigration advisors on staff to provide that additional support for applications for students and for their visa applications in real time. I think that's where we are. Those are all additional steps that need to be taken now to ensure that students have a greater chance of success in the visa process.
00:38:52 · Martijn van de Veen
[00:38:52] S3: Yeah, it's so true. You do need to understand the requirements of the process. We all need to work closely, schools and agents together with their students and ensure that these applications are complete and correct, as you say, and be more professional, to Michal's word. Shawn, what would you add to that in terms of pieces of advice for our audience on this topic?
00:39:11 · Shawn Silverstone
[00:39:11] S1: I think for schools, you know, strengthening visa guidance, and I know a lot of the post secondaries have those visa officers, but I think it's important for K to 12 schools to make sure that they have those people in their school system that are able to give advice and guide them in the right way, and really helping to make streamlined applications. And the biggest thing I'd say for everyone is to really put it on your website, put it as part of your application, make sure you have clear refund policies and make sure you're constantly going back to that and updating it and make sure it's always there for everyone to see. And for our agents, it's really about staying updated on the policy changes. Like Michal indicated, it changes every Monday sometimes, and you really need to be on top of it and you need to improve your documentation quality and manage the family expectations. Having that pre departure, I visited with an agent yesterday and he's doing four pre departure sessions prior to a student even going to the country. I mean, that's unheard of, but I love hearing that type of stuff where they're really connecting with the families and letting them know and setting those expectations. And for the students, yeah, it's about applying early now and it's preparing those strong custodianship documents. And probably most of all, choose a school with a good support system That will really help you to make sure that you're able to have a good application and a successful application sent through to IRCC. And thank you to ICEF for always working with the agents too, and making sure that they're well prepared and having that process that they have to go through. And those are the agents that we're looking to work with too, those vetted agents that basically have had the training. This is something that I think we've spoken about throughout the whole entire process here. It's, you know, everyone just needs to be informed all the time and that's the most important part.
00:41:06 · Martijn van de Veen, Shawn Silverstone, Michal Sestak
[00:41:06] S3: Information communication, transparency, you also mentioned clear refund policies, staying up to date on these policy changes that happen so often, manage expectations, have a good support system, and something tells Michal that Coquitlam does have that? [00:41:21] S1: We do. We do. That's something that we've we've really kind of reared and listened to what the people want. So having that support system has definitely helped us to make sure that everyone feels very confident in what they're doing and when they're applying to the school district. [00:41:35] S3: Wonderful, that's really very helpful. Now, so much uncertainty caused by these visa policy changes, visa acceptance rates, visa rejection rates, and so on and so forth. A bit of uncertainty was also there for you, Michal, as you went to Whistler, whether that would be snow or not, but I believe you have snow? [00:41:54] S0: Yes, well, I did check the weather forecast, and funny enough when Shawn was speaking about diversifications, what I have done, I've diversified as well. I now also co own a company called Canada Online with the Canadian migration agent who I am currently on a business trip in Whistler, and we're talking about the policies as we sit in gondolas. We're not the way up. [00:42:20] S3: Making us all jealous. And, Shawn, you're in Brazil now, but you are actually from Whistler. Right? From the area.
00:42:20 · Martijn van de Veen, Shawn Silverstone, S2
[00:42:20] S3: Making us all jealous. And, Shawn, you're in Brazil now, but you are actually from Whistler. Right? From the area. [00:42:25] S1: Vancouver. Yeah. We're just basically an hour outside of Whistler there. We love it. We were just up there last weekend checking out the slopes, and I'm I'm very jealous that Michal's up there right now. Because I was up there, there wasn't a lot of snow, but hearing that there's a lot, have fun, Michal. It's gonna be amazing. Wonderful. Well, you. We just so surely do. [00:42:43] S3: From navigating the the ski slopes to navigating visa issues, there's a lot to navigate in this industry. Thank you very much, Michal and Shawn. Craig and I will continue with the next segment, Keys to the Market, and we look forward to meeting in one of our events, Shawn and Michal. Thank you very much. [00:43:00] S2: Up next, Keys to the Market, where this month we focus on East Africa. [00:43:05] S3: So, Craig, our focus this month in Keys to the Market is not one single country, but is actually a region. East Africa and Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda in particular, prominent student source markets with Uganda probably more balanced in terms of inbound and outbound recruitment, while Rwanda and Burundi are primarily sending students abroad. An important region, these three countries, East Africa as a whole or Africa as a whole, of course. A lot is happening in that region. What would you add to inform our audience of the opportunities in East Africa.
00:43:41 · Craig Riggs
[00:43:41] S4: There are a couple of things going on here. We've been looking at East Africa. I mean, Africa in... Let... Let's start with Africa as a whole. Obviously, a massive marketplace, not just one marketplace, an incredibly rich and varied marketplace for student recruitment across the continent, but also a part of the world where the population, the the college age population in particular, is growing extremely quickly and is gonna account for a greater and greater share of global population. You know, Africa is gonna drive... Africa and South Asia are gonna drive global population growth, for the coming decades. And so, of course, we pay close attention to it. But when we look at Africa, you almost have to break it down into regions and sub regions. And as you say, we kind of have East Africa in focus today. Our attention is drawn to it in part because we've always been trying to understand more about kind of intraregional mobility within that part of Africa. You know, when we talk about student mobility in Africa, as in many parts of the world, there's on the one hand, the outbound student mobility to going overseas to other destinations in Europe or Asia or in The Americas. That is still an important feature of the patterns that we're observing there, and we see increasing numbers of students going abroad to study from Africa, leaving Africa to go elsewhere. But the other thing that we're trying to pay attention to is intra regional mobility. So, as students move from one African nation to another within the continent. And East Africa is a good example of a part of Africa where those patterns are pretty well established. Like Uganda, for example. Certainly, see outbound mobility from Uganda, but we also see a lot of inbound mobility from students coming from neighboring countries to pursue their studies in Uganda. Rwanda, in contrast, has historically had more of an emphasis on outbound mobility. Right? And I'd say, you know, the country's higher education system does not really have the capacity or quality that students require. And so while steps are being taken to improve that and, you know, through, you know, an expansion of the domestic system by an encouragement of branch campus operations in the country, there's still a fairly significant outbound flow of students from Rwanda.