The international education landscape is evolving rapidly, requiring greater coordination, collaboration, and alignment across Canada’s provinces and post-secondary education sectors. Recognizing this need, Alberta adopted a province-wide approach to international education informed by lessons learned from the successful model established by BCCIE. Through engagement with a BCCIE subject matter expert, Alberta post-secondary institutions, government representatives, and sector stakeholders, a business case was developed that ultimately led to the creation of the Alberta Bureau for International Education (ABIE).
Today, ABIE serves as a collaborative platform representing Alberta’s 26 publicly funded post-secondary institutions, including universities, colleges, polytechnics, independent institutions, and specialized entities. Working within a shared framework, members collaborate to advance provincial and national priorities, strengthen communication, reduce duplication, share resources, and pursue collective opportunities that support Alberta’s global engagement objectives.
This session will explore the evolution of Alberta’s coordinated model and the partnerships that have contributed to its success. Participants will learn how ABIE works alongside organizations such as BCCIE and the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) to foster information sharing, strategic alignment, and cross-provincial collaboration. Through practical examples and lessons learned, the session will demonstrate how collaborative approaches can strengthen institutional capacity, support sector-wide priorities, and enhance Canada’s reputation as a globally connected education destination. Participants will leave with insights into how regional collaboration and shared leadership can create stronger outcomes for institutions, provinces, and Canada as a whole.
- Understand the value of a system-based approach to international education and how organizations such as ABIE and BCCIE support institutions by strengthening collective capacity, streamlining engagement, and leveraging economies of scale to address evolving global challenges.
- Examine how collaboration through provincial and regional associations can advance institutional internationalization priorities, including partnership development, student mobility, research collaboration, capacity building, and global engagement.
- Identify practical strategies and lessons learned from Alberta’s and British Columbia’s models that can help institutions maximize resources, reduce duplication, build stronger international networks, and achieve greater impact through coordinated action rather than institution-by-institution approaches.