A new five-year Schools for Tomorrow plan focuses on the province’s current and future need for new schools, modernization of existing schools and steel-framed modular classrooms. The plan recommends $3.17 billion in funding over the next five years.

The plan is driven by a number of guiding principles, including:

• healthy, safe and secure learning environments
• student spaces in the right places
• finding community-based long-term infrastructure solutions
• enhancing comprehensive program delivery

Changing enrolment patterns and demographic shifts make creating student spaces a challenge. The report’s recommendations on capital funding work to address this challenge.

• New and replacement schools — $1.4 billion over five years for 82 projects. This recommendation includes $50 million for new Francophone school projects.
• Major modernizations and preservations — $900 million over five years for 71 major projects. This recommendation includes $20 million for Francophone schools.
• New steel-framed modular classrooms — $200 million over five years for about 125 new modulars a year.
• Infrastructure Maintenance and Renewal (IMR) — $520 million over five years for numerous smaller school modernizations and revitalizations.
• Career Technology Studies (CTS) equipment — $50 million over five years to upgrade existing technical and trade-related CTS facilities and equipment.
• Leasing costs — $60 million over five years to support government-funded leasing costs for alternative programs and Charter Schools.
• Facility evaluations and regional planning initiatives — $40 million over five years.

Other recommendations include looking at block funding to school boards, more flexibility for school board borrowing and gaining revenues from vacant school reserve land.

More information

• Executive summary and summary of recommendations (pdf, opens in a new window)
• Schools for Tomorrow (pdf, opens in a new window)
• News release