Case Study
How TMU’s Career, Co-op, and Student Success Centre improved deliverability and reduced costs by switching from MailChimp to a Canadian email platform.
Background
The TMU Career, Co-op, and Student Success Centre operates with a team of over 40 staff members, including a dedicated 10-person Career Education team. The organization uses a faculty-aligned communications model that delivers targeted newsletters to specific student segments. Wincy Li serves as the Associate Director of Career Education and is the primary contact for the Centre’s student communications initiatives.
The Challenge
TMU’s Career Education team needed to regularly reach students across multiple faculties with event updates, job postings, and career resources.
TMU’s Career Education team needed to regularly reach students across multiple faculties with event updates, job postings, and career resources.
- Rising Costs: MailChimp’s USD-based pricing was increasingly expensive due to currency exchange rates.
- Deliverability Risks: Email deliverability rates were not up to expectations.
The team needed a cost-effective, reliable way to send targeted, visually appealing messages to students — without technical constraints.
The Solution
When Envoke reached out, the timing couldn’t have been better. The Career, Co-op & Student Success Centre at TMU was already seeking a Canadian alternative to reduce costs and improve deliverability.
Through their work with IT and ongoing use of Envoke, the Career, Co-op & Student Success Centre gained key benefits in four areas:
Mass Email Distribution
- Bulk sending to large student segments
- Faculty-specific targeting and segmentation
Visual Email Design
- Professional, template-based newsletters
- More engaging, student-friendly layouts
Technical Integration
- Smooth compatibility with Google Workspace
- IT-to-IT collaboration for spam filter setup
- Domain migration support during the university’s rebrand (ryerson.ca → tmu.ca)
Technical Integration
- CAD pricing to eliminate exchange rate exposure
- Local, responsive support familiar with public sector requirements
The Results
Cost Savings
Switching from MailChimp immediately reduced costs by removing USD exchange rate fluctuations.
“Price point was our primary driver,” says Li. “We found a plan that met our needs without paying for unnecessary marketing features.”
Improved Deliverability
Collaborating directly with Envoke’s support team helped the Career, Co-op & Student Success Centre navigate around new spam filters properly — avoiding what could have been a major communications failure.
“If we didn’t fix the tech, all the messages were going to land in spam,” Li recalls. “We haven’t had any issues since.”
Simplified Support
Envoke’s ability to work directly with IT made setup and troubleshooting easy for non-technical users.
Compliance-Friendly Procurement
As a public institution, TMU prioritizes working with Canadian vendors when possible.
“We are complying with the 2025 Ontario Procurement Restriction Policy, and we want to work with Canadian businesses where we can,” Li explains. “We are very happy that Envoke is a great platform that is a home-grown business, based right here in Toronto.”
"Envoke's customer service and technical support were top-notch. Their team guided us through the mailing list migration from another platform and helped us navigate an institutional name/email domain change seamlessly. Their intuitive user interface allows our team to adopt the platform quickly, and we appreciate that they are a Canadian business offering an affordable price point for the service."
Associate Director, Career Education
Career, Co-op & Student Success Centre
Toronto Metropolitan University
Key Takeaway
When budget constraints meet deliverability challenges, partnering with a responsive Canadian provider helped the Career, Co-op & Student Success Centre at TMU maintain student engagement while reducing costs and risk.
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