Keyano All Set to Host Inaugural Agent Familiarization Tour

It is an opportunity to showcase our beautiful campus and community, and we are delighted to launch the Agent Familiarization Tour on July 26, 2022. Hosted by Keyano College’s International Education Office, the idea behind the three-day tour is to provide select international recruitment agents an opportunity to visit the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) and experience the College’s campuses, facilities, and programs first-hand while being fully immersed in the Municipality’s attractions and diversity.

Keyano’s Sandra Efu, Dean, School of University Studies, Career Programs & Academic Upgrading, explains more.

“The tour aims to turn our agents into firm believers of the College and become more knowledgeable, confident, and motivated to promote what Keyano College has to offer to prospective students and their families.”

Founded in 2019, the International Education Office was created to help advance the College’s international education and global citizenship efforts. It aids in centralizing support and services for international students, staff, and external stakeholders and positions us as leaders in the global education sphere. As of May 2022, Keyano has over 190 international students from 26 countries. The Office has been forging partnerships with recruitment agents from across the globe and with key local stakeholders such as the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Economic Development and Tourism (FMWBEDT).

“This tour is made possible by the financial support from FMWBEDT. Through the partnership with FMWBEDT, the College will cover the cost for the agents participating in the tour. We hope this will be the first of many agent familiarization tours for Keyano and the region,” shared Kryston (Krys) Munnings, Team Lead, Student Life & International Education, who has been with Keyano for two-and-a-half years.

“Our agents are from all over the world. Some of them are local, some from across Canada, and many are from overseas. While this will be their first time on campus, our relationship is not new, as they have been recruiting for us over the past few years. Overall, we’ve received positive feedback from agents in supporting Keyano, as well as favourable response around our processing time regarding applications. As it relates to the tour, agents were able to provide us with feedback in the form of a survey. The results helped in designing the parameters for the tour.”

Terri Nielsen, Director, Tourism, FMWBEDT, has been working on this partnership with Keyano College and says the group has been “suggesting potential tours and sites to Keyano to visit while these agents are visiting Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo, giving them a good overview of our region, the history, and the opportunities.”

“Being part of tourism and economic development, and being a resident of Fort McMurray, the campaign to attract foreign students is an excellent initiative, as these students will contribute to our community not only while they are here in school but may choose to stay in our region to start their careers and families,” enthuses Nielsen, who has been with FMWBEDT for two-and-a-half years.

“Having been in tourism all my life, I have witnessed the best way to convert potential agents or planners into fans is to have them visit. Pictures and presentations are good but seeing are believing. These agents will be much better equipped and excited to attract students to Keyano and Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo once they have experienced it in person. Keyano College is a fantastic school, and Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Economic Development and Tourism are so proud to collaborate with them on not only this but many projects.  Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo is a place of great opportunity, and working together, we can bring those opportunities to people from all over Canada and the world.”

Efu and Munnings agree.

“It takes all of us to showcase what Keyano College and our beautiful Fort McMurray have to offer to the world. We are grateful for all the stakeholders who helped enhance international education for us, and we look forward to continuing these initiatives in the future.”

For more information about our programs, view our A-Z Programs page.