Jun. 09, 2026
The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) Three-Year System Student Accommodation Plan (SSAP) was presented to the Board of Trustees. This annual plan identifies student accommodation initiatives for the upcoming school year and schools that will require ongoing monitoring.
Schools are included on the SSAP when they face enrolment challenges that affect how full they are and require monitoring and planning to improve their utilization rates and in so doing, best support students. Currently, 166 of the CBE’s 251 schools are full or over capacity. The system utilization rate is 95 per cent, with high schools at 107 per cent capacity.
The provincial government has identified an optimal school utilization rate to be 85 per cent, as this ensures a critical mass of students to support programming variety and the available space within the building to offer this variety. If a school's utilization rises too high or falls too far below this benchmark, it can negatively affect programming choice and depth. Most schools are included in the SSAP if their current or expected utilization falls below 70 per cent or rises above 95 per cent.
Potential actions that could be taken to balance enrolment in schools may include:
- changing a school’s attendance area;
- re-designating a community;
- identifying an overflow school for students who cannot be accommodated at the school;
- changing the school’s grade configuration;
- consolidating programs; and
- adding or removing modular classrooms from a school.
The CBE is committed to transparency and keeping families informed. Through the SSAP, families can better understand CBE planning and student accommodation and be well informed about the need for possible upcoming changes.
2026-29 System Student Accommodation Plan
Highlights from the 2026-29 SSAP
- Overall system utilization remains high at approximately 95 per cent, reflected by ongoing enrolment pressure across many schools.
- The number of schools classified as ‘Over Capacity and/or Nearing Capacity’ that require new or further accommodation strategies decreased from 65 in 2025 to 55 in 2026, showing a slight improvement as previously implemented accommodation plans take effect.
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There are fewer short-term projects in the 2026-29 SSAP, with more schools identified for ongoing monitoring. This reflects recent efforts to manage utilization coupled with stable enrolment over the past year.
- While many schools now have a plan in place, overall pressure on space remains, and the number of schools managing overflow students is expected to stay high in the near term.
- Student accommodation planning will continue to become more complex as the system works to balance enrolment until additional space is created through new schools, modular classrooms, and other initiatives.
Learn More on our website at
cbe.ab.ca/SSAP
- Review the
Three-Year System Student Accommodation Plan
- Watch the informational video for families to learn about the SSAP
- Explore the interactive SSAP Dashboard that includes enrolment projections, information about school utilization and more.
