Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks to reporters in Halifax on July 16. Smith's plan to spend billions of dollars to fast-track school building across the province will come alongside a new construction funding program for private schools.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
Private schools in Alberta are getting a piece of the province’s $8.6-billion pie to build new schools as part of Premier Danielle Smith’s plan to address surging student enrolment numbers driven by rapid population growth.
On Wednesday, the day after Ms. Smith announced a significant boost to education spending, she said her government is still ironing out the details of a pilot program that will “incentivize investment” by non-profit private schools to create thousands of student spaces – a move that has drawn mixed reactions.
While the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges in Alberta welcomed the availability of provincial financial support, the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta said the pilot will divert funds from the public education system. New Democratic Party leader Naheed Nenshi said funding private school development is misguided.
Ms. Smith, however, defended the move as supporting parent choice. “We want to put all of the different school options on the same level playing field,” she said at a news conference in Calgary.
She did not provide details on what portion of construction costs could be covered under the pilot program or how exactly the $8.6-billion purse will be split among public, charter and independent schools. However, Ms. Smith did note that student enrolment numbers would be a key indicator.
In a public address on Tuesday, the Premier blamed what she called Ottawa’s excessive immigration policy for unprecedented growth of Alberta’s student population. She then announced a boost of $6.5-billion to the already budgeted $2.1-billion capital plan to accelerate the construction, or renovation, of K-12 schools. The plan, she said, is for 200,000 new student spaces to be created over seven years.
The public school boards in Alberta’s two largest cities, whose representatives were at the Wednesday news conference, said a combined 11,600 new students have been welcomed to their districts this year. Another 5,200 pupils have been newly enrolled in the Catholic school districts in Calgary and Edmonton, according to statements.
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Patricia Bolger, chair of the Calgary Board of Education, said 40 schools are needed within the next decade to manage enrolment growth. Julie Kusiek, board chair of Edmonton Public Schools, said they need 50 new schools. Roughly 40 projects are currently ready for construction between the public and Catholic districts in the two cities.
Alberta Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie said on Wednesday that 92 schools have been built over the last five years, averaging about 18 schools yearly. He said the injection of new funding will allow for 30 schools to be built yearly moving forward.
Mr. Nenshi, during a news conference on Tuesday night, welcomed the province’s education investment but questioned whether it is realistic given demands on the construction work force. He added that, to his knowledge, this is the first time in Canadian history that public money is being used for private school construction.
He said private schools don’t necessarily serve every student in a given community and are not always built in the neighbourhoods in greatest need. “Using that money to build public schools is more efficient, it’s smarter, it’s faster and it will serve students better,” Mr. Nenshi said.
John Jagersma, the executive director of the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges in Alberta (AISCA), said the pilot for private schools is exciting but that more details are needed to understand how it will affect his slice of the education world.
He said roughly 53,000 students are enrolled in independent schools or learning at home while registered with an independent school in Alberta, adding the sector has grown by 8 per cent year-over-year since 2020.
He noted Ms. Smith said the funding for independent schools is designed to “incentivize” new construction, rather than cover all building costs. “I don’t think they are offering to pay full freight for the construction of independent schools,” Mr. Jagersma said in an interview. “I don’t see a world where that happens.”
Mr. Jagersma said the cost of building is the main barrier to opening independent schools with organizations often fundraising for more than a decade to cover capital investment. The province, he said, could accelerate timelines through seed money.
Dennis MacNeil, president of the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta, said he is also grateful for the cash infusion, but is frustrated by the government’s desire to support institutions outside of the public network.
He rejected Ms. Smith’s assertion that this week’s announcement levels the playing field, arguing, for example, that private schools charge tuition and still receive substantial per-student government funding. He worries that Alberta will prioritize charter, private and independent schools ahead of public ones.
“Any time a charter school or a private school gets funding, it takes more money away from the public system,” he said. “The first build in every community should be a public school.”
With a report from Kelly Cryderman