New English school to open next year in Saint-Lin-Laurentides

A new English-language elementary school is opening in Saint-Lin-Laurentides, about 50 kilometres north of Montreal.

It'll be ready for the 2024 school year and it will be a welcome addition to an overcrowded system.

According to the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board, the last time a new anglophone school opened in the area was more than a decade ago so this new one — with 16 classrooms, a double gym, sensory rooms, and a playground — is welcome.

"The construction of a new English school is so exciting. It's exciting news," said Paolo Galati, chair of the school board.

The school board says most of its schools in the Lower Laurentian and Lanaudière regions are overcrowded, with Laurentia Elementary School in Saint-Jérôme operating at 163 per cent capacity.

"They had to give up their library for a classroom and the library is now in a narrow hallway. Totally, totally unacceptable," Galati said.

The $27-million project will be able to accommodate close to 400 students, and for some, it will be much closer to home. Galati says it will also help with increasing enrollment as more anglophones are moving up north.

• Listen on CJAD 800 Radio: Quebec's English Parents' Committee Association's Katherine Korakakis on new English elementary school opening in Laurentians 

"We noticed that, in total, the entire population went up 6.8 per cent from 2016 to 2021. Those are stats from Stats Canada," said Vanessa Savella, the executive director of English Community Organization of Lanaudiere.

It's an increase some believe is likely influenced by the cost of housing. A recent report from the Quebec professional association of real estate brokers shows the average home price in Montreal was $700,000 last month, compared to $474,000 north of Laval.

"A lot of our buildings are older, they are wonderful learning environments but they're old," said Kathy Korakakis, president of Quebec's English Parents' Committee Association.

"Windows don't open, walls aren't great, paint is not great so it's just a wonderful environment when it's fresh and new. It's conducive to learning."

Crews are expected to break ground for the new school in the coming weeks before its expected opening in 2024.