December 18, 2025
RED FM News Desk
Calgary’s public school system saw its enrolment increase by just one student last year — a development the school district is describing as a rare moment of relief.
In the years following the pandemic, Alberta experienced rapid population growth, pushing the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) to add roughly 17,000 students over a four-year period. The surge left dozens of schools overcrowded, with some forced to turn students away.
That pressure remains. Thirty-two of the CBE’s 237 schools are still considered full. However, officials say the lack of growth this year has at least prevented the situation from worsening.
“We continue to live in unprecedented times,” Superintendent Dany Breton told trustees while presenting the district’s enrolment report this week. “I would characterize the very modest growth experienced this year as something of a gift, or a well-deserved reprieve for CBE schools.”
Earlier this year, the Alberta government approved funding for 15 new schools and one replacement school within the public system. Once completed, the projects are expected to create space for more than 16,000 students. However, the district says it will take three to four years before the new schools open and ease capacity pressures.
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