Building & Modernizing Schools

With the tremendous increase in Calgary's population in the last five years and many families deciding to live in new, suburban communities, new schools are needed. We also need to modernize existing schools, many of which are more than 50 years old, to meet the learning needs of students.

New School Projects

Each year, Alberta Education reviews CBE's Three-Year School Capital Plan and decides which projects to fund and at what stage. The CBE works closely with Alberta Infrastructure, The City of Calgary and the development industry throughout the school building process.

Once construction begins, we share regular updates through the Construction Projects Status Report. As a new school nears completion, families impacted by the opening will start receiving more detailed information. All updates are posted on our website and individual project pages.

On average it takes 3-4 years to deliver elementary and middle schools and 4-5 years to deliver a high school.

Upcoming Information Sessions

The Calgary Board of Education and Alberta Infrastructure are hosting open houses to present preliminary designs for schools approved for development across the city. Community members are invited to attend and learn more about these upcoming school projects.

Attendees will be able to browse the design displays, ask questions directly to the project and design team, and share their feedback about the proposed school designs and planning process.​

We encourage you to attend in person to learn more. Please visit our Questions & Answers​ for helpful information on new school projects, construction, planning, registration, transportation and more.

Below is a list of new school projects (projects are linked to additional information as soon as project progress allows):

Major Capital Project Requests

The first step in building or modernizing schools is to request and receive funding for the work. Funding for major capital projects is granted by the Alberta government.

Annually, the CBE uses Board approved criteria for school capital planning to evaluate and prioritize these projects. The criteria assess building condition, community renewal, efficiency solutions, enrolment pressures, functionality and programming, health and safety and legal requirements. The result of this process forms the basis for the annual Three-Year School Capital Plan.

The purpose of the Three-Year Capital Plan is to assess and document CBE’s major capital construction needs and prioritize projects. The plan is approved by the CBE’s Board of Trustees and submitted to Alberta Education & Childcare. The government then evaluates CBE’s projects against the project requests from every other Alberta school jurisdiction to determine which projects receive funding approval.

In Alberta, major capital projects move through three main stages: Planning, Design and Construction. While this is the typical process, some projects may skip stages or move ahead more quickly based on factors like site readiness.

In 2024, the province introduced the School Construction Accelerator Program to fast-track the building and modernization of schools. This program allows approved projects to move forward without having to wait for the next provincial budget cycle.

To learn more about the status of CBE’s major capital projects, including new schools, existing schools and modular classroom program projects currently under development or construction, please see our latest construction projects status report.