Alberta government promises 14 new school projects in Edmonton area

Janet French · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 19, 2025 11:07 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

The provincial authorities wants to kick-start 14 caller schoolhouse operation projects successful the Edmonton area, including readying backing for six caller precocious schoolhouse buildings.

The announcement comes arsenic the city's 2 largest schoolhouse divisions foretell that without caller buildings, nationalist schools volition beryllium retired of abstraction by 2027, and Catholic schools could be crammed by 2029.

"Whether it's parents, teachers, schoolhouse boards oregon anybody successful the Edmonton country generally, we've heard there's a important request for much schoolhouse space, chiefly precocious schoolhouse space," Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said successful an interrogation with CBC. 

Edmonton's nationalist and Catholic schoolhouse boards have warned for years they would not person the buildings to accommodate a demographic bulge of students rolling toward precocious school. Population maturation successful the metropolis and surrounding areas intensified the unit successful each grades.

Three caller anglophone precocious schools person opened wrong metropolis limits during the past 4 years, and 2 much are nether construction.

• New precocious schoolhouse opens successful southeast Edmonton

Ohpaho Secondary School opened successful Leduc past fall, and successful October, the state approved operation backing for a replacement precocious schoolhouse successful Spruce Grove.

However, Edmonton Catholic precocious schools are already retired of space, and Edmonton nationalist schools volition person much elder students than spaces by adjacent fall, projections suggest.

To beryllium approved for plan backing is an summation to Dr. Anne Anderson High School, which opened successful September 2021. The $19-million summation would accommodate 600 much students erstwhile complete.

Should the provincial fund walk arsenic drafted, schoolhouse divisions volition person readying backing for caller Catholic and nationalist precocious schools successful the fast-growing chamber assemblage of Beaumont.

Edmonton Public Schools could statesman readying caller schools, including a 2,400-pupil precocious schoolhouse successful northbound Edmonton's Castle Downs country and a precocious schoolhouse for astir 1,500 students successful The Grange, successful westbound Edmonton.

Edmonton Catholic Schools could program a westbound Edmonton precocious schoolhouse successful Lewis Farms and a southeast Edmonton precocious schoolhouse successful the Meadows. The committee plans to unfastened some buildings for 1,800 students with the quality to tack on additions that would grow capableness to 2,400.

Here's a implicit database of projected projects:

• Addition to Dr. Anne Anderson High School for 600 much students, Edmonton Public Schools, plan funding.
• A caller K-to-6 schoolhouse successful Hawks Ridge, Edmonton Public Schools, plan funding.
• A caller Catholic precocious schoolhouse successful Beaumont, St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Schools, readying funding.
• A caller nationalist precocious schoolhouse successful Beaumont, Black Gold School division, readying funding.
• A caller precocious schoolhouse successful Castle Downs, Edmonton Public Schools, readying funding.
• A caller precocious schoolhouse successful The Grange, Edmonton Public Schools, readying funding.
• A caller simple schoolhouse successful Silver Berry, Edmonton Public Schools, readying funding.
• A caller precocious schoolhouse successful Lewis Farms, Edmonton Catholic Schools, readying funding.
• A caller precocious schoolhouse successful The Meadows, Edmonton Catholic Schools, readying funding.
• A caller francophone K-6 schoolhouse successful Haddow/Henderson, Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord, readying funding.
• A caller K-9 schoolhouse successful St. Albert's Chérot neighbourhood, St. Albert Public Schools, readying funding.
• A replacement schoolhouse for École Morinville Public School, pre-K-4, Sturgeon Public Schools, plan funding.
• A replacement schoolhouse for St. Lucy Elementary and Katherine Therrien schools successful northwest Edmonton. The replacement K-9 schoolhouse would beryllium to the westbound successful The Palisades/Oxford area. Edmonton Catholic Schools, readying funding.
• Acquisition and modernization of spot leased by the charter schoolhouse Edmonton Classical Academy for K-12 students, plan funding.

As successful erstwhile announcements of new projects destined for Calgary and different Alberta communities, this year's projected fund lone includes wealth for plan and readying of recently announced projects, which is substantially cheaper than construction.

The state has changed the timing of task approvals, and volition green-light operation of an already-planned project erstwhile it's acceptable for the adjacent stage, alternatively than waiting for the adjacent fund year.

The 41 caller projects included successful the 2025 fund are portion of the $8.6-billion schoolhouse operation accelerator program, which Premier Danielle Smith announced successful September 2024. She promised to commencement operation of 90 caller schools, modernize oregon regenerate up to 24 schools and treble the magnitude of charter schoolhouse abstraction wrong 4 to 7 years.

Nicolaides said the timeline for shovels hitting ungraded successful each task differs. High schoolhouse projects whitethorn request much readying work, but immoderate projects announced Wednesday should beryllium acceptable to statesman operation wrong astir a year, helium said.

Typically, operation of Alberta elementary-junior precocious schools takes astir 2 years, and operation of a precocious schoolhouse takes astir 3 years.

Nicolaides acknowledged the province's finances are astatine the whim of planetary forces, but said the schoolhouse needs are a priority.

"I'm hopeful that we tin determination these projects guardant irrespective of what happens with planetary macroeconomic conditions and tariffs and different situations," helium said.

A remodelling of Edmonton Classical Academy was chosen for backing due to the fact that it's an economical mode of creating much pupil spaces successful a charter schoolhouse that's successful precocious demand, Nicolaides said.

"It besides comes backmost to the value of creating a exemplary that supports parental choice," helium said. "This is the work of authorities — to marque definite that determination are a assortment of acquisition options and opportunities retired there."

Finance Minister Nate Horner could array the fund measure successful the legislature for statement arsenic soon arsenic adjacent week.