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Edu-Canada Tour of Southwest China
The Consulate General of Canada in Chongqing, with support from the Embassy of Canada in Beijing and the Edu-Canada Division at Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD), is pleased to invite you to the Canada Education Tour of Southwest China 2014. This tour is designed to focus on student recruitment and partnership development at both the K-12 and post-secondary levels. Participants will have an opportunity to reach out to potential students and parents, educational agents, Study in Canada Departments at key Chinese high schools, and VIP and private banking departments of major Chinese commercial banks, as well as senior officials from provincial education ministries and local education commissions. The timing of this tour directly follows the end of the China Education Expo, allowing schools who exhibit in the CEE the chance to extend their China-wide activities to an in-depth market examination of the southwest.
The southwest is China’s fastest growing region and encompasses the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, as well as the municipality of Chongqing, one of four city provinces in the country with a population of 35 million. In recent years, with the establishment of numerous Study in Canada Departments at key high schools, the number of students from Southwest China going to Canada has seen an exponential increase. Despite this, there remains great potential for further growth, especially through innovative alternative channels of promotion. Recruitment fairs organized in collaboration with local commercial banks has been an innovative approach adopted by the Consulate General of Canada in Chongqing during past tours, By leveraging the banks’ VIP client networks, these events have been highly successful in providing exposure for Canadian schools to a target market with both the desire and the means to pursue study abroad. This tour will continue to utilize this and other best practices in order to maximize effective student recruitment opportunities for participants.
While most student recruitment and partnership building initiatives in China have traditionally focused on universities, this tour will provide exciting opportunities for all levels of Canadian education institutions. In an attempt to combat the steady decline of graduate employment rates in China in recent years, there has been a concerted effort on the part of local Chinese universities to redirect their traditional research-intensive focus to practical, applied educational methods more in line with the North American community college model. As a result of this shift, more and more opportunities have emerged for Canadian colleges to enter into collaborative agreements with Chinese institutions. Roundtable meetings organized in select cities will allow tour participants to meet and network with key players from local schools and other elements of the education sector. Study abroads at the high school level have also become an increasingly viable and sought-after option for students in Southwest China. Tour participants representing Canadian high schools and school boards were exceptionally popular with parents and students at previous recruitment fairs. Promotion of secondary education in Canada will be one of the major focuses of this tour.
Time will be allotted in each city for schools to conduct individual outreach and partnership-building initiatives. If you wish to arrange meetings with local partners at one of these cities, please contact Peter.Liao@international.gc.ca for more details. To learn more about this tour and its predecessor initiatives, please contact Peter.Liao@international.gc.ca for a comprehensive report of the 2013 Canada Education Tour of Southwest China.
November 5-11, 2014 — K-12, ACCREDITED LANGUAGE SCHOOLS AND POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS
November 5-6 Kunming, Yunnan Province
November 7 Guiyang, Guizhou Province
November 8 Chongqing
November 9-11 Chengdu, Sichuan Province
Registration Contacts: Eric MUDDIMAN
Registration Deadline: September 18, 2014
TO REGISTER – CLICK HERE
NOTE: Institutions have the option of signing up for any combination of the four city stops throughout the tour. Participation in all scheduled tour events in each registered stop is mandatory unless otherwise stated. Institutions seeking to opt-out of specific events must notify the Consulate General of Canada no later than October 15th, 2014