By April 1 each year, school boards submit a Three-Year School Capital Plan to Alberta Education & Childcare. The CBE doesn’t decide when new schools are built. The provincial government determines where, when and how new schools are built.
The CBE’s Three-Year School Capital Plan | 2027-2030 annually requests new construction and existing school projects from the provincial government. This plan identifies a single, prioritized list of major capital construction projects ranging from new school construction to major capital investments into existing schools (such as major modernizations, school replacements or school additions.) The plan identifies priorities for new school construction and existing school projects based on criteria approved by the Board of Trustees.
In Oct. 2024, the Board of Trustees approved Capital Planning Project Ranking Criteria to replace the New School Criteria and Modernization Criteria. These criteria were used to evaluate new school construction requests and existing school requests as part of the 2026-2029 Three-Year School Capital Plan.
New School Construction & Existing School Criteria
New School Ranking Points (K–9)
- Preschool population (all preschool children)
- Enrolment in CBE schools
- Projected five-year population growth
- Median travel time to overflow school
- Number of bus receiver schools
- Existing K–4 or 5–9 school availability
- More than two transition points
New School Ranking Points (10–12)
- Enrolment in CBE schools
- Projected five-year population growth
- Median travel time to overflow school
Contextual Analysis (10–12)
- Future catchment demographics at full build-out
- Five-year enrolment utilization rates
- Student residence utilization patterns
School Additions
- Modular Classroom Program + SSAP inputs
- Population projections (school + sector)
- Nearby approved capacity projects
- Future school sites in long-range plans
School Revitalization
- Schools 50+ years old eligible
- Facility Condition Index (FCI)
- Complexity, accessibility, energy efficiency
- Utilization + long-term projections
- System priority adjustments
Modular Classroom Eligibility
- Over / projected over 90% capacity
- Out-of-boundary driven enrolment pressure
- Serves approved new school communities
- Starter school designation
- Nearby long-term capacity available
- Site can support modular classrooms
If none of these apply, the school will not proceed to ranking.
School Maintenance & Renewal
Each year, the provincial government announces funding levels under its Maintenance & Renewal Programs for the purpose of investing in the repair and replacement of major facility components.
The provincial School Capital Manual outlines that school jurisdictions must use Maintenance & Renewal funding to:
- ensure school facilities meet all regulatory requirements, particularly as they pertain to providing a safe and healthy learning environment;
- preserve and improve the quality of the learning environment by:
- replacing building components that have failed;
- prolonging the life of the school facility through planned, proactive replacement of major components; and
- upgrading of the educational areas to meet programming requirements.
- meet the facility requirements of students with special needs; and
- replace or upgrade building components to improve energy conservation and efficiency and to achieve cost savings as a result.
Funding from Maintenance & Renewal programs is NOT to be used for major capital projects, including the addition of permanent or modular school spaces.
There are currently two Maintenance & Renewal programs available to school authorities:
- Infrastructure maintenance and renewal: provided based on the school year (Sept. 1 to Aug. 31), which is allocated to school jurisdictions on a formula basis. Infrastructure maintenance and renewal projects must meet the above criteria and the expenditures may be capitalized or expensed; and
- Capital maintenance and renewal: provided based on the Government of Alberta fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) and is project specific but still allocated on a formula basis. Besides meeting the above criteria, capital maintenance and renewal projects must be capitalized and cannot be expensed.
Last modified: 2026-05-12 20:43:07.25223 +0000 UTC