Alberta kickstarting accelerated funding to build new schools in Calgary, Edmonton and surrounding areas. Chad Mcdermott/Dreamstime.com

By Jayk Sterkenburg

EDUCATION

Alberta accelerating 11 new schools across province with $8.6B funding

Feb 15, 2025 | 12:57 PM

Alberta’s government has sped up 11 previously announced school projects in the Calgary Metropolitan Region and Edmonton from the design stage to full construction funding.

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The province announced $8.6 billion to accelerate school construction and introduced a new approach to funding school projects in September 2024.

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Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides said Saturday that the commitment to building schools will help build and open 200,000 spaces for students in communities that need them the most, all within the next seven years.

“There is no two ways about it, Alberta is growing and growing fast, so we need to build schools now,” he said in a statement.

The projects will create more than 12,000 new student spaces between Airdrie, Calgary, Chestermere, Edmonton, and Okotoks.

Funded as part of a $2.1 billion school capital investment by Alberta’s government in 2024, the new projects are part of the government’s commitment to build and modernize more student spaces.

The 11 projects advancing to construction funding were initially approved for design funding in March 2024. They are in the following jurisdictions, under their respective school divisions:

Airdrie — Rocky View Schools: 9-12 school

Calgary — Calgary Board of Education: 10-12 school in Cornerstone

Calgary — Calgary Board of Education: K-4 school in Redstone

Calgary — Calgary Catholic School District: K-6 school in Redstone

Chestermere — Rocky View Schools: K-9 school

Edmonton — Edmonton Catholic Schools: K-9 school in Laurel

Edmonton — Edmonton Catholic Schools: K-9 school in River’s Edge

Edmonton — Edmonton Public Schools :K-6 school in Glenridding Heights

Edmonton — Edmonton Public Schools :K-6 school in Rosenthal

Edmonton — Edmonton Public Schools: 7-9 school in McConachie

Okotoks — Foothills School Division: 10-12 school

Minister of Infrastructure Pete Guthrie said that as Alberta communities continue to grow, the acceleration allows demands to be met for spaces faster and more efficiently.

“Regardless of what stage of construction we are in, our priority is to get students into desks as quickly as possible, while ensuring their classrooms are well-built for years of learning,” he said in a statement Saturday.

The province said that it is anticipated that the 11 school projects will be delivered through two public-private partnership bundles, with next steps being contractor selection and project design.

Additional details such as total project costs and timelines will be available once contractors have been selected.

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