Friday October 3, 2025 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
This week the construction go-ahead for another school in the fast-growing west shore area of Greater Victoria was announced by Premier Eby during a press conference in Langford.
How do schools get funded and built in BC? The Ministry of Infrastructure has provided this outline:
- The Province continues to make significant investments in school infrastructure across B.C., with $4.6 billion allocated for school capital projects over the next three years.
- These investments ensure students and families benefit from safe, modern, and sustainable learning environments in their communities.
- Once a project has been notionally supported through the provincial budget cycle, submitting a business case is the next critical step in the capital funding process.
- Each project must go through a detailed review and approval process to ensure it meets provincial criteria for need, cost-effectiveness, and long-term planning.
- Once a business case is approved, only then is funding confirmed and announced. Timelines for developing business cases can vary depending on the complexity of the project.
- The government-approved business case from the school district includes anticipated construction and design costs for the project.
Capital Investment Costs for Significant School Projects in the South Vancouver Island region
· SD62 – North Langford Secondary School (projected to open in Sept 2030)
– The land for the new school was purchased in 2019 for nearly $18.3M. The new investment of $220 million as announced October 1 is for the construction of the school.
· SD62 – SĆIȺNEW̱ SṮEȽIṮḴEȽ Elementary (opened Sept 2025)
– The province provided $48.6 million for building the new elementary school in South Langford, with the school district committing an additional $1 million.
· SD62 – PEXISSEN Elementary School and Centre Mountain Lellum Middle School (opened Fall 2022)
– Two new schools in the Westhills area of Langford. Construction costs – Elementary school: ($ info to come); Middle School ($65.1 million from the Province). Shared land for both schools: $23.4 million from Province and $1.6-million from SD62.
· SD62 – Belmont Secondary (opened 2015)
– The replacement Belmont Secondary project in the Westhills area of Langford cost $55.9 million. Overflow student seats have been in portables for several years (each portable costs approximately $150,000 to source, deliver and setup).
· SD62 – Royal Bay Secondary (opened 2015)
– The original cost was $41 million for the new Royal Bay Secondary School in the Royal Bay area of Colwood.
– In addition, an expansion adding 600 seats (with classrooms, labs, gym, etc.) cost nearly $30 million; opened in Sept 2020.
· SD79 – Quw’utsun Secondary (opened Feb 2025)
– The new Quw’utsun Secondary (replacement of Cowichan Secondary) cost $86 million.
Ministers in school development:
The BC NDP government has had a perspective and direction since 2017 of building schools to support the needs of growing communities. Notably. on Vancouver Island that is the west shore region of Greater Victoria and on the mainland the needs of Surrey would top the list.
The Infrastructure Minister is Bowinn Ma. The Minister of Education and Child Care is Lisa Beare.
In an interview with Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke last week during the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Victoria, Island Social Trends heard that she is still pushing for more school construction (not just portables and modular additions) in Surrey.
It was evident at this week’s press conference with Premier Eby — hosted by Langford-Highlands MLA Ravi Parmar (Forests Minister) in Langford — that Parmar is continuing to drive the development of more schools for the west shore region, following in the political footsteps established for tha in the west shore by the late former Premier John Horgan and Parmar’s nearly 10-year stint as the board chair of Sooke School District 62, and working closely with the business and construction development community in Langford.
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NEWS SECTIONS: INFRASTRUCTURE | 43rd PARLIAMENT OF BC | SD62 – West Shore | LANGFORD