Walker & Company helps Ontario colleges and universities build the internal systems, digital marketing infrastructure, and recruitment strategy to meet their enrolment goals in a constrained environment.
The federal government's study permit cap has created a ceiling on growth. But the more pressing challenge facing most institutions is what happens beneath that ceiling — the gap between allocated enrolment and actual paid students.
Lower visa approval rates, increased global competition, and deteriorating applicant conversion rates mean many institutions are failing to fully utilize the enrolment allocation they already have. This is the cap within the cap.
The solution is not more spending. It is smarter deployment of what you already have.
Walker & Company is not a recruitment agency. We do not place students, collect commission, or represent your institution in market. We work exclusively with institutional leadership to audit, optimize, and modernize your international recruitment operation.
A properly structured Google Ads campaign delivers a cost-per-click below $1.00 — against an industry norm of $3–4 in higher education. We build, manage, and optimize campaigns across your key source markets.
The window between admission and payment deadline is where most institutions lose students they should keep. We audit your pipeline and implement automated communication strategies that keep your institution front of mind.
Every directly enrolled student represents tuition revenue that does not flow to an agency — in some cases upwards of 20% saved on commission. We help you build the channels and infrastructure to grow that number systematically.
With experience managing 196 recruitment partners across dozens of countries, we assess your current partner portfolio for performance, compliance, and strategic alignment — and help you optimize where you invest.
A comprehensive audit of your current international recruitment strategy across all channels — digital, agent, direct, in-market — with clear recommendations for where to reallocate effort and budget for maximum ROI.
From CRM selection to portal UX improvements, we help institutions assess and modernize the technology stack that supports international recruitment — with implementation guidance your team can actually act on.
Our founder spent over four years building and running Lambton College's international recruitment function from the inside — at a time when the institution was enrolling over 10,000 international students annually.
We understand your operation because we have run one. We have sat in the rooms where enrolment decisions are made, managed the agent relationships, built the digital campaigns, and navigated the compliance environment.
That institutional perspective is what separates Walker & Company from every other advisory pitch in your inbox.
Engagements begin with a no-obligation discovery conversation. We will assess whether there is a fit before either party commits.
Contact Walker & Company