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Part of Education planning and reporting

Planning and building schools

Learn how Alberta school projects are planned and find projects approved for construction.

Current school projects

The Alberta government works with provincial school boards to build schools in Alberta.

Project planning

Every year, each school board creates a list of building projects that are important to their communities for the next 3 years. This list is known as the board’s 3-year capital plan.

Government uses information from the individual school board plans to create a provincial capital plan.

Provincial capital plans consider many factors, including:

  • a school’s impact on health and safety of students
  • the condition of the buildings
  • enrolment trends
  • each school board’s 3-year capital plan

The provincial capital plan helps government decide which projects will be approved when funding is available for school projects.

If a project is approved, the local school board, Alberta Education and Alberta Infrastructure work together on the details of the project to help ensure it meets students’ needs.

School boards may also identify partners that could help enhance projects for students and the greater community.

Investing in school projects

  • Pre-planning

    Help school authorities identify the best value option for meeting their long-term needs.

  • Planning

    Clarify the anticipated project scope, schedule and cost to support site readiness.

  • Design

    Improve project design to ensure projects can be delivered on time, on budget and within scope.

  • Construction

    Funding received to support the construction or purchase of new infrastructure.

  • Project complete
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Investing in school projects outlines the activities that school authorities need to complete to ensure they can proceed to construction in a timely manner when construction funding is provided.

School authorities are not required to complete every stage before going to construction funding. Depending on readiness and ability to complete the required steps prior to construction, projects may accelerate at different rates. For example, if a school authority completes both pre-planning and planning stages at the same time, they could move from pre-planning straight through to design or full.

If school authorities are able to progress early design elements while in planning, they could move from planning to a full funding approval.

The School Capital Manual includes policies, procedures, guidelines and references for funding and planning projects. It is updated on an ongoing basis as required.

School Capital Reporting System – User Manual

Resources

Fillable PDF forms may not open properly on some mobile devices and web browsers. See the step-by-step guide or contact PDF form technical support.

Forms and guidelines

Jurisdiction maps

Memorandum of Understanding