The new GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre at Georgian College’s Barrie campus brings academic, emotional, social, and professional supports together in one welcoming space.
Made possible in part by GuardMe’s contribution, the centre reflects more than 20 years of partnership with Georgian College and a shared commitment to student wellbeing, accessibility, belonging, and success.
For students, finding the right support at the right time can make all the difference.
That belief was at the heart of the centre’s official opening on May 28, 2026, where Georgian College leadership, board members, student representatives, community elders, and members of the GuardMe team gathered to mark a milestone built through long-standing partnership.
A new space for student support
The GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre is a student support hub at Georgian College’s Barrie campus.
It brings together six key areas of support:
· Learning Services
· Accessibility Advising
· Adaptive Technology
· Immigration Advising
· Co-op Consulting
· Testing Services
Each service plays a different role. Together, they help students access support with greater clarity and confidence.
The goal is simple: make it easier for students to know where to go, who to speak with, and how to take the next step.
Why this matters
Students are rarely navigating one challenge at a time.
Academic pressure, health concerns, financial stress, cultural transitions, accessibility needs, immigration questions, and career planning can all overlap. When support feels hard to find, asking for help can become one more thing to manage.
The GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre helps create a clearer starting point.
A place to ask a question.
A place to be guided.
A place where support feels more visible and connected.
As Suzie Addison-Toor, Vice President for Student Success at Georgian College, shared:
“The GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre provides a welcoming, accessible space where students can learn, connect, and thrive while being supported academically, emotionally, socially, and professionally. It reflects Georgian's commitment to student well-being, belonging, and future readiness.”
That idea is central to the centre’s design. Technology and human connection work side by side, with digital wayfinding tools to help students navigate quickly and staff available to listen, guide, and connect students to the right supports.
It reflects a simple but powerful idea: care should be easier to reach before a student is overwhelmed.
A partnership built over more than 20 years
For GuardMe, this moment represents more than a name on a building.
It reflects a a partnership built over more than 20 years, and a shared belief that student success depends on more than what happens in the classroom.
Georgian College recognized GuardMe’s long-standing investment in student success through the naming of the new centre. For GuardMe, that recognition is meaningful because it reflects the strength of a partnership built over time and the practical impact that partnership can have for students.
GuardMe CEO Keith Segal spoke to what the centre represents:
“Our partnership with Georgian has always come from a shared belief in supporting the whole student. We're proud to see the new GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre come to life because it reflects the care Georgian has always worked to provide — both in the classroom and through the many moments that shape a student's journey.”
That belief continues to guide GuardMe’s work with institutions across Canada and around the world.
Students need coverage they can trust.
Services they can understand.
And people who can help them find the right support when they need it.
At Georgian, that belief now has a visible home.
Support under one roof
The centre brings together services that address different parts of the student experience, from academic access and accessibility to immigration guidance, career readiness, and testing support.
Learning Services
Learning Services Customer Service helps students find the right path forward.
The team handles more than 2,000 service inquiries per semester across phone, in-person, and email channels, making it an important first point of connection for students looking for support.
Accessibility Advising
Accessibility Advisors support students facing physical, medical, sensory, mental health, learning, and temporary or permanent barriers to education.
In the 2024–25 academic year, 1,528 students accessed Accessibility Services across Georgian.
Adaptive Technology
Adaptive Technologists work alongside Accessibility Advisors to provide training and support for assistive technologies.
These tools can help make learning more accessible and manageable, from screen readers to organizational software and other adaptive technology supports.
Immigration Advising
Immigration Advising provides guidance for international students navigating permit renewals, status maintenance, and application processes.
In Winter 2026 alone, nearly 900 appointments were booked, reflecting the important role this service plays in helping students move through complex requirements with greater confidence.
Co-op Consulting
Co-op Consulting connects students with paid, full-time work experience across nearly 50 co-op programs.
With more than 6,000 employer partners and approximately 3,000 students currently participating, this service helps students build professional networks, develop in-demand skills, and gain meaningful experience while studying.
Testing Services
Testing Services provides fair, secure, and accessible examination conditions for students who require accommodations, make-up tests, placement assessments, or external testing support.
The team supports more than 2,300 tests each fall and winter semester.
A centre shaped by real student experience
At the ceremony, Georgian College Student Association President Shyla Tighe captured why this kind of space matters:
“Supported students persist. Students who feel seen succeed. Every Georgian student carries with them a life of depth and complexity. This centre recognizes that support, community and care should not only be available in moments of crisis — they should be a part of everyday student experience.”
That message speaks to the larger purpose behind the centre.
Student success is shaped by more than grades, programs, or graduation rates. It is also shaped by whether students feel seen, supported, and able to ask for help before they are overwhelmed.
The GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre was designed with that reality in mind.
Prevention, partnership, and possibility
Jesse Poulin, Director of Student Support Programs at GuardMe, spoke to the importance of support that reflects the real experiences of students:
“At GuardMe, we believe care should be connected, responsive and rooted in real experiences of students. This centre creates visible, welcoming and practical pathways for students to access support earlier, with greater confidence — in ways that recognize the many factors that shape wellbeing, including mental health, academics, cultural transitions, financial stress, and just day-to-day life.”
He added:
“This centre represents prevention, partnership and possibility. Most importantly, it reflects a belief that when students are supported as a whole person, they are better able to learn, participate and thrive.”
For GuardMe, this is the heart of the work.
Building care that is easier to access.
Supporting institutions as true partners.
And helping create systems that meet students where they are.
What this means for post-secondary institutions
Across post-secondary education, student needs are becoming more complex. Institutions are being asked to provide support that is not only available, but easier to navigate and more connected to the realities of student life.
The GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre offers one example of what that can look like in practice.
It brings services, people, and purpose together in a way that helps students access support earlier and with greater confidence.
For institutions, this kind of model matters because student wellbeing is closely connected to persistence, belonging, academic success, and long-term outcomes.
For students, it can mean something even more immediate: knowing where to go when they need help.
Frequently asked questions
What services are available at the GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre?
The centre brings together Learning Services, Accessibility Advising, Adaptive Technology, Immigration Advising, Co-op Consulting, and Testing Services.
Why is the GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre important?
The centre makes student support easier to find and access by bringing key services together in one welcoming space.
Supporting student wellbeing at your institution
The GuardMe Student Success and Care Centre is a reminder of what becomes possible when partnerships are built with care and sustained over time.
As student needs continue to evolve, so must the systems built to support them.
For institutions looking to build more connected, student-centred systems of care, GuardMe is here to help.
To start a conversation, contact sales@guard.me.
