# ICEF Survey of 916 Agents in 109 Countries Finds Demand Shifting From the US to Canada URL: https://edufabtech.com/news/icef-agent-voice-2026-survey-demand-shift-canada-us-australia Section: News · Education Published: 2026-11-10 Publisher: EduFabTech (https://edufabtech.com) > ICEF's 2026 Agent Voice survey of 916 recruitment agents in 109 countries finds student demand falling for the US, UK and Australia while rising for Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Malaysia and Germany. Recruitment agents who place international students into universities and colleges abroad told ICEF, the international education company that runs recruitment fairs and market research for the sector, that demand for studying in the United States and Australia weakened again in 2026, while interest in Canada and a handful of smaller destinations strengthened. The findings were released at ICEF Berlin, held 1 to 3 November 2026, and published online by ICEF Monitor on 5 November 2026. The results come from ICEF's Agent Voice 2026 survey, which ICEF describes as drawing on responses from 916 education agents across 109 countries. Agents are the intermediaries who advise prospective students on where and what to study, so the survey captures what agents are seeing and being told by their clients rather than official enrollment counts. ICEF Monitor's own summary frames the picture as "not of collapse, but of a market undergoing a significant reset." That reset looks different depending on the destination. Comparing the two most recent survey rounds, ICEF Monitor reports that the United Kingdom's share of agents seeing more student interest fell from 48% in 2025 to 31% in 2026. Canada moved the other way: only 18% of agents reported more demand for Canada in 2025, against 58% reporting less; in 2026, 27% reported more demand and 34% reported less. Australia lost ground, with 42% of agents saying student demand had decreased in 2026, 13 percentage points higher than in 2025. For the United States, half of agents (50%) said demand was lower than the year before, a share similar to the 48% who said so in 2025. ![Grouped bars compare 2025 vs 2026 agent-reported demand for the UK and Canada (share seeing more demand) against Australia and the US (share seeing less demand), showing Canada as the only destination gaining ground.](https://edufabtech.com/uploads/2026/11/icef-agent-voice-2026-survey-demand-shift-canada-us-australia-2.png) *Grouped bars compare 2025 vs 2026 agent-reported demand for the UK and Canada (share seeing more demand) against Australia and the US (share seeing less demand), showing Canada as the only destination gaining ground. — EduFabTech · Own work* ## Where students go when they give up on the US ICEF Monitor's analysis also asked agents where students end up when they abandon plans to study in the United States. "Canada is the most common option (60%), followed by Australia (57%) and the UK (53%)," the article states, with Germany (22%) and New Zealand (21%) rounding out the top five. Because agents could name more than one destination, the figures describe how often each country was named rather than a single redirected flow of students. ## Smaller destinations gain agent-reported interest Beyond the four countries that have long dominated English-language study-abroad flows, ICEF Monitor's report says "New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Malaysia, and Germany lead the pack" among destinations recording stronger agent-reported interest in 2026. The survey does not give enrollment figures for these countries, only agents' sense of where client interest is moving. ## Visas and leads top agents' own concerns Agents were also asked about their own operating difficulties, not just student sentiment. ICEF Monitor reports that "'visa issues' and 'finding leads' rose to 73% and 66% as agent concerns in 2026," and that post-study work opportunities have become a more common concern among the students agents advise, alongside affordability and visa access. Agents also described a growing role in guiding students toward careers and employer demand when recommending programmes: 62% said they offer this kind of guidance before a student starts studying, and 49% said they do so during or after the programme, according to the ICEF Monitor article. ![A branching diagram shows where agents say students most often go when they abandon US study plans: Canada (60%), Australia (57%) and the UK (53%), with Germany and New Zealand named less often.](https://edufabtech.com/uploads/2026/11/icef-agent-voice-2026-survey-demand-shift-canada-us-australia-3.png) *A branching diagram shows where agents say students most often go when they abandon US study plans: Canada (60%), Australia (57%) and the UK (53%), with Germany and New Zealand named less often. — EduFabTech · Own work* ## Study-type outlook diverges for 2027 The survey also points to a widening gap between academic and non-academic study options. More than half of agents expect overall foreign enrollments to hold steady or grow in 2027, and that confidence is strongest for graduate programmes (79%) and undergraduate or foundation programmes (78%), ICEF Monitor reports. Confidence has fallen sharply for other programme types: in 2023, over half of agents predicted growth in language-course enrollments for the year ahead, a figure that fell to 28% in this year's prediction for 2027; for vocational studies, the same measure fell from 60% in 2023 to 26%. Language schools and vocational providers, in other words, are the part of the sector where agents are least confident demand will hold up. ## What the survey does and does not measure Agent Voice is a perception survey of people who work in recruitment, not a count of visas issued or students enrolled, so its figures should be read as an early, sector-side signal rather than a substitute for government immigration data or institutional enrollment reports. ICEF has run comparable agent surveys in previous cycles, which is what allows this year's report to compare 2026 responses with 2025 and, for some questions, with 2023. For students weighing where to apply, the practical takeaway is that agents are telling ICEF that visa predictability and post-study work prospects are now doing as much to steer demand as course content or institutional reputation, and that the gap between destinations narrowed in 2026 as interest spread toward Canada and several smaller markets. For universities, and the teachers and administrators who support international applicants, the same data suggests advising capacity may need to shift toward the programme types, such as vocational and language study, where agents expect the softest near-term demand. ## Sources 1. ICEF Monitor. (2026). Global agent survey provides an early indication of how international student markets are taking shape this year. ICEF Monitor https://monitor.icef.com/2026/11/global-agent-survey-provides-an-early-indication-of-how-international-student-markets-are-taking-shape-this-year/ 2. ICEF. (2026). ICEF Agent Voice 2026. ICEF https://www.icef.com/market-intelligence/agent-voice/icef-agent-voice-2026/ --- Source page: https://edufabtech.com/news/icef-agent-voice-2026-survey-demand-shift-canada-us-australia Quote with a link to the source page. © EduFabTech.