'Deep disappointment': Thunder Bay French school board cancels expansion project

Rajpreet Sahota · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 14, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A large enlargement task astatine École secondaire catholique de La Vérendrye successful Thunder Bay, Ont., has been cancelled owed to operation costs.

The enlargement was expected to see a recently improved gymnasium and different renovations. The Conseil scolaire de territory catholique des Aurores boréales (CSDC des Aurores boréales) announced the cancellation of the task past Friday.

It was approved by the Ontario Ministry of Education successful October 2024, with $5.3 cardinal successful backing from the schoolhouse committee and the ministry done the Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Program for Official Languages.

However, aft putting the task retired for tender, the committee recovered that the lowest bid was much than 105 per cent supra the planned budget, exceeding $10 million. Faced with the important fiscal gap, the committee determined the task was nary longer viable.

"It is with heavy disappointment that we denote this decision," said Claudette Gleeson, committee chair. "We admit the value of this task for our students and the full French-speaking assemblage successful Thunder Bay."

According to Marie-France Tousignant, the schoolhouse board's superintendent, the gymnasium astatine La Vérendrye is not conscionable a abstraction for carnal acquisition but besides serves arsenic a assemblage hub, hosting section sporting events, tournaments and taste gatherings. The planned enlargement would person provided much flexibility, further abstraction and a signifier for concerts and performances.

Despite the setback, the schoolhouse committee remains committed to offering its afloat slate of programming wrong the existing space. 

"As of now, we're inactive precise overmuch susceptible of offering afloat programming successful the gymnasium that we person successful presumption of phys-ed classes, tournaments, sporting events. It is simply a precise fashionable rental for the assemblage successful the evenings. So, we tin inactive bash that, but we were hoping to beryllium capable to connection much flexibility, much space," said Tousignant.

Tousignant said the committee explored alternatives, specified arsenic cutting costs oregon securing further funding, but those options were not feasible. 

"More backing was not disposable astatine this time," she said. "We looked astatine immoderate alternatives, but it was not imaginable to bash it successful the timeframe and fund we had connected hand."

As for the aboriginal of the project, Tousignant said the committee volition request to instrumentality immoderate clip to regroup.

"Every year, each schoolhouse committee is asked to taxable its apical priorities successful presumption of buildings, renovations and expansions. The committee needs to reconvene and spot if adjacent twelvemonth successful the yearly process if it volition inactive beryllium portion of our priorities."

The CSDC des Aurores boréales serves 9 communities successful northwestern Ontario, with 9 simple schools and 2 secondary schools, including La Vérendrye.