Capital projects announced

Following the release of the budget, Premier Danielle Smith and Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides visited St. Mary’s school in Calgary to announce 43 new school projects to begin in various forms in 2024.

“Alberta is growing and we are investing significantly in education to meet that growth,” said Smith. “Communities across the province will be seeing new and modernized schools for their students, providing them the best places to learn.”

The announcement included 12 projects in Airdrie, Calgary, Chestermere, Cochrane, Edmonton and Leduc that would receive full construction funding in Budget 2024. Another 14 projects will get design funding and six projects will receive planning money. An announcement on the other 11 projects, expected to impact smaller communities, is forthcoming.

The government says these projects will add 35,000 additional spaces to help address enrolment growth across the province. 

ATA president Jason Schilling says the school builds are not enough, and it just goes to show that schools will get more crowded, not less crowded as a result.

“The idea of 57,000 additional students in schools over just two years is astonishing,” he said. “The government is touting new school projects that would add 35,000 additional spaces. 

“The numbers just don’t add up.” ❚