Two new Surrey school projects are planned to move forward as part of B.C. Budget 2024 in an effort to mitigate overcrowding issues.

“With nearly 350,000 more people choosing B.C. as their home in the last two and a half years, the province is focused on building services for a growing population,” said Minister of Education and Child Care Rachna Singh. “We are expanding school spaces and will work on acquiring new school sites to support the school district, so we can continue to support Surrey families now and into the future.”

A new Darts Hill area elementary and an addition to Grandview Heights Secondary are supported to begin planning as part of Budget 2024, which is the largest school capital budget in the province’s history.

“Our school district has been growing at a very rapid pace, averaging over 2,400 new students annually in the past two years,” said Laurie Larsen, chair, Surrey Board of Education. “This level of growth underscores the urgent need for investments like this in new schools and expansions. We are very appreciative that these two projects can now move ahead to the business planning phase, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Province to further increase capacity in our district.”

In fall of 2023, the province also provided funding to start prefabricated additions at Walnut Road, Lena Shaw, and Woodland Park elementary schools to help meet increased enrolment in the school district. The prefabricated classrooms will deliver 875 new seats and are expected to be ready for students this fall.

Budget 2024 includes $3.75 billion for school capital projects over the next three years, including new and expanded schools, seismic upgrades and replacements, and land purchases for future schools.