Alberta investing millions in education as student populations boom

Alberta has announced millions in funding to help alleviate pressure on the education system as the province deals with a population boom.

Premier Danielle Smith was at a Calgary school Tuesday to announce $215 million for modular classrooms and to cover operational costs. The funds will be available starting in the 2024-25 school year.

“More and more people are choosing to make Alberta their home and that means our K-12 schools are home to a growing number of students,” Smith said. “We’re providing school authorities with additional spaces and resources, so they can continue the important work they do educating young Albertans.”

Every school authority in Alberta will get a share of $125 million for operational funding. The amount available for each school authority will be based on the number of students it serves.

The province says $90 million is being invested for the construction and installation of up to 100 new modular classrooms and the relocation of up to 50 modular units.

In Calgary, the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) will get up to 31 new modular classrooms and have up to 14 relocated, and the Calgary Catholic School Division will receive up to 14 new modular classrooms and have up to six relocated.

Rocky View Schools will also get up to 12 new modular classrooms and have up to 12 relocated.

In Edmonton, the EPSB will receive up to 26 new modular classrooms and have up to 11 relocated, while the Edmonton Catholic School Board will get up to 17 new modular classrooms and have up to seven relocated.

The province adds this will create up to 2,500 new spaces and 1,250 “optimized” spaces for students in Calgary and Edmonton.

Schools in Alberta’s major centres are experiencing a large volume of additional enrolment. CBE chair Patricia Bolger says the division is preparing for 8,000 more students this upcoming school year, while Edmonton Catholic School Board chair Sandra Palazzo says her division is preparing for 2,800 new students.

Over the next three years, the province says more than $1.2 billion is being invested for schools to address growth in enrolment. Officials say this will allow for the hiring of more than 3,100 additional teachers and classroom support staff. More than $1.5 billion is also earmarked to support specialized learning needs and address complex classrooms.

The 2024-25 school year will see the highest spending ever on Alberta’s education system, the province claims, with more than $9.3 billion in planned spending.

In June, the Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA) said nearly one-third of school divisions in the province would have fewer teachers next school year, even as enrolment was set to increase. ATA president Jason Schilling said at the time the problem was due to the “significant and systemic” underfunding of education.

Prior to that, the ATA launched a campaign called ‘Stop the Excuses’ that highlighted what it described as chronic underfunding in the system.

The organization pointed to Statistics Canada data indicating Alberta spends, on average, $11,601 per student, compared to other provinces which averaged $13,332 per student.