Saakshi Khanna, centre, and Arnav Soni's son Arvin, 7, is one of the students at Walnut Road Elementary School in Surrey learning in a portable classroom unit without air conditioning. A dozen prefabricated classrooms were set to open in October to ease overcrowding but have been delayed.The Globe and Mail
During the first week of the school year, as parts of British Columbia experienced a heat wave, Saakshi Khanna’s seven-year-old returned home complaining that his portable classroom at his school in Surrey was uncomfortably warm.
Her son’s classroom is one of 12 portable units – without air conditioning and restrooms – at Walnut Road Elementary School. A dozen prefabricated classrooms were set to open in October to ease overcrowding but have been delayed, with completion expected by the end of the year.
“It’s just not the right environment for the kids to learn,” Ms. Khanna said.
Meanwhile, her other son attends one of the six high schools in the city that have extended their hours this semester to manage rising student enrolment.
British Columbia’s population has surged over the past three years. In 2023, the population grew by more than 3 per cent annually, the highest increase since the 1970s. It led Premier David Eby to flag it as a stress point in the premiers’ meeting in July: “Our schools are full. We are unable to keep up with housing starts, despite significant and record-setting rental housing and housing purchase starts.”
Surrey, the fastest growing city in the province with a population projected to eclipse that of Vancouver by 2029, is feeling the strain acutely, especially in its schools. The Surrey school district, the largest and fastest-growing in B.C., is again expecting substantial student population growth.
More than 82,000 students are forecast for the 2025 fiscal year, marking an approximately 10-per-cent increase from 2020.
With the B.C. election campaign now under way, parents in Surrey such as Ms. Khanna are hoping the outcome will draw much-needed attention to the city’s infrastructure challenges.
“I want to see what they’re doing with infrastructure, schools, hospitals, everything,” she said. “Everything is a mess.”
Surrey now has 10 B.C. ridings, the second-most in the province. In the past two elections, B.C. NDP candidates have won the majority of these seats.
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Gary Tymoschuk, vice-chairperson of Surrey’s Board of Education, said he hopes that regardless of who wins the election, public education will be a priority both during and after the campaign.
“We need to make sure that we’ve got the infrastructures and the capital in place to accommodate the growth that’s happening in our district,” he said in an interview.
On Sept. 11, Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care, announced the province will help add 915 more elementary school seats in Surrey as part of the government’s plan to expand schools more quickly.
In the past few months, the provincial government has made a series of announcements to address overcrowding in Surrey, such as an 800-seat expansion for Fleetwood Park Secondary and prefabricated additions for several elementary schools, including Walnut Road. In contrast to portables, prefabricated classrooms are equipped with dedicated washrooms, heating and air conditioning, and ventilation systems.
However, Mr. Tymoschuk said it’s not enough.
“Whatever was on our list last year, we didn’t get all of it. Of course, we got some of it, nowhere near all of it.”
Since 2023, the province has announced funding for seat expansions at 14 schools. Surrey has one new school set to open next month and another in March of 2026.
In the meantime, the board has been forced to look at other options. In addition to staggered start times, the district will also explore hybrid learning models for Grade 10-12 students and year-round, tri-semester schooling.
In its new capital plan approved in May, Surrey is seeking $5.03-billion from the Ministry of Education and Child Care for 63 major projects, including 20 new schools, 19 expansions and 21 site acquisitions.
The 2024-25 provincial budget included $3.75-billion for school capital projects over the next three years, meaning Surrey’s request surpasses the total funding set aside for the entire province.
Elenore Sturko, who is now running in the Surrey-Cloverdale riding for the BC Conservatives, said her party plans to review the education funding formula and expedite project completion. Conservative Leader John Rustad has pledged to eliminate portables in Surrey by increasing class sizes while maintaining or boosting the student-to-teacher ratio.
“We’re hearing from our school board that it’s taking five to six years to get projects completed, which when you’re in a crisis, you need a government that’s going to cut the bureaucratic processes, cut red tape and make sure things get built quickly so that we can get kids in classrooms and in healthy learning environments,” Ms. Sturko said.
Ms. Singh, MLA for Surrey-Green Timbers, said the NDP is delivering more than 15,000 student seats in Surrey at 34 new and expanded schools. However, she added: “We agree that there is much more to do and we have to keep going.”