Student population statistics

School and authority enrolment data, including special education statistics by code.

Student population

Starting with 2013/2014, the definition of an Alberta student is an individual who is registered as of September 30 of the school year in a school located in Alberta, where “school” means a structured learning environment through which an education program is offered to a student by:

  • a board (includes public, separate, francophone, Lloydminster); an operator of a independent school
  • an early childhood services (ECS) program independent operator
  • the operator of a charter school
  • a parent giving a home education program
  • the Minister of Education
  • other Alberta-located educational institutions providing ECS to Grade 12 curriculum instruction, specifically Federal (First Nations schools and those operated by Corrections Canada) and provincial authorities (such as the 4 former Alberta Vocational Colleges)

Table 1. Alberta student population by grade

Note: *Enrolment as of December 2025 student count.
Grade2021/20222022/20232023/20242024/20252025/2026*
ECS67,42868,46070,60970,38067,815
Grade 154,20458,42058,78958,62258,439
Grade 256,70655,55760,69760,61959,474
Grade 355,62858,43957,93362,76361,857
Grade 456,48957,12960,77360,09163,913
Grade 556,11658,17259,39862,77561,252
Grade 656,44357,60760,38761,42063,989
Grade 757,62557,87359,76562,27862,531
Grade 856,90758,93459,73961,53463,325
Grade 955,77257,50560,43561,17762,357
Grade 1054,21458,92860,89763,16262,851
Grade 1152,18655,15459,89262,22663,855
Grade 1266,05267,88073,02279,54083,431
All grades745,770770,058802,336826,587835,089

Table 2. Alberta student population by authority system

School authority system2021/20222022/20232023/20242024/20252025/2026*
Public492,362508,220524,754537,673538,872
Separate173,436177,588185,318191,308193,579
Francophone8,7659,0879,5269,83710,327
Charter10,57511,25712,78015,40817,909
ECS Independent Operator7,0617,8478,2578,1678,633
Independent School39,29241,15945,76248,35949,726
Provincial1,6251,5711,6221,0951,202
Federal – First Nations12,01712,58813,48513,93714,056
Federal637741832803785
All schools and authorities745,770770,058802,336826,587835,089
*Enrolment as of December 2025 student count.
**The student population in shared responsibility and home education (supervised) is also included in school authority numbers.
Home education population2021/20222022/20232023/20242024/20252025/2026*
Shared Responsibility Program**1,4001,7572,0572,2613,263
Home Education (supervised)**21,14119,11022,22423,71823,843
Home Education (not supervised)155339429486558

Special education needs population

Alberta special education statistics by code and Alberta special education statistics by grade can be found on Open Data.

School and authority student population data

Preliminary school and authority enrolment data for the 2025-26 school year, along with school and authority enrolment data from each previous school year, beginning in 2016-17, is available on Open Data.

Public student population and certificated teacher data

Preliminary data on public, separate and francophone school authority student-populations and certificated-teachers, as reported to Education and Childcare.

International and interprovincial migration

Table 3. Migration of school aged children aged 5 to 18 years – Alberta

YearNet internationalNet interprovincial
2020-20213,347-1,187
2021-202213,0081,160
2022-202320,7296,785
2023-202430,1206,771
2024-202514,5004,328

Source: Annual Population Estimates from Statistics Canada Centre for Demography

Contact

For questions about the enrolment data or funded enrolment, connect with Funding Analysis and Analytics Branch:

Email: [email protected]