Burnaby's overcrowded Cameron Elementary School will need another portable before the beginning of the school year to deal with increased enrolment, but a more permanent solution is on the horizon, according to local school officials.
In July, the provincial government announced it had approved $67.6 million for a brand new Cameron with 425 more seats, increasing the total capacity of the school to 770 students.
The new school, which is projected to open in fall 2028, will be built on the south side of the property, where the gravel field is now, according to secretary-treasurer Ishver Khunguray.
He said the old school will remain open until the new one is finished.
The district is in the process of hiring an architect, according to Khunguray, and construction is expected to begin in spring 2026.
With a 770-student capacity, Khunguray said the school should be big enough to accommodate projected enrolment until 2031.
After that, the building's design will allow for even more expansion if necessary.
More flexibility
Overcrowding at Cameron has been on the district's capital planning radar for years, especially in light of major development planned in the Lougheed town centre.
In the last couple of years, Burnaby and other Lower Mainland school districts have also seen an unexpected spike in enrolment related to changes to Canada's temporary foreign worker program and immigration measures to support Ukrainian refugees.
With a nominal capacity of 298, Cameron Elementary accommodated 522 students last year with the help of portables, according to Khunguray.
But the province did not originally approve funding for a brand new, bigger school, he said.
In March 2020, it told the district it would only support a seismic refit and expansion to the existing school.
It took another request to convince provincial officials the new school was the way to go, according to Khunguray.
"We explained to them that a full replacement would provide more flexibility for future expansions because we know the school community is going to be growing substantially," he said.
Land is scarce in the area, according to Khunguray, and an addition would have used up more of the Cameron property than the new school, which the district plans to design more vertically.
With the approval of the new school, Khunguray said it won't be necessary to build a school into one of the condo towers planned in the area, an option included in the district's long range facilities plan.
"With this replacement we're actually able to fit everything on the land," he said.
More new classrooms coming to Kitchener Elementary School
The unexpected enrolment growth in recent years prompted the district to go back to the province and ask for more classrooms at Kitchener Elementary School as well, according to Khunguray, and the province came through on that request too.
Instead of $22.5-million for a 15-classroom prefabricated expansion at the Brentwood school approved last December, the province has decided to kick in an extra $7.5 million for a 20-classroom expansion.
That project is expected to be complete in late 2025, early 2026, according to Khunguray.
"Both are really welcome approvals," he said. "These projects are desperately needed to respond to the growth and avoid more portables."
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
Email [email protected]
