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Enrolment Planning

Enrolment Planning

The Educational and Facilities Planning department manages the collection, analysis, and reporting of enrolment and educational program data and provides short, medium, and long-term enrolment forecasts for the District, Families of Schools Regions, Families of Schools, and Individual school catchments.  These forecasts are used to plan for student accommodation, staffing needs, budget forecasting, space use planning, and annual capital planning. 

Please consider the Enrolment Update Report 2025 which was presented to the Facilities Planning Committee on June 16, 2025 as a reference for VSB enrolment projections based on the best available information. 

This table provides updated data on student enrolment and operating capacity for the 2025-2026 school year: 2025-26 Enrolment and VSB Calculated Operating Capacity 

Every February, school districts throughout British Columbia are required to report projected enrolment for the upcoming 3 school years. The VSB’s current 3-year projection report can be found here: Finance Committee Report Feb 11

More information on enrolment forecasts and trends can be found in Chapter 4 of the current Long-Range Facilities Plan, approved on January 25, 2021.

Capacity Utilization and Space Use

Capacity utilization and space use at schools varies widely across the District. At present, many schools in the District have low-capacity utilization. There are also areas of the district experiencing enrolment pressure where schools have insufficient capacity to accommodate catchment student enrolment demand.

Refer to Chapter 5 of the current Long-Range Facilities Plan, approved on January 25, 2021 for more information.

Enrolment Management Strategies

For areas experiencing enrolment pressure where schools have insufficient capacity to accommodate catchment student enrolment demand, the District applies enrolment management strategies in accordance with procedures set out in AP 300 Admission to School.

Enrolment management strategies are used for the following purposes:

  • To ensure continuity and stability for students and their families
  • To provide equitable access to programs an support educational programming
  • To maximize the number of students that can be accommodated at catchment schools
  • To ensure efficient and effective use of resources allocated to staffing schools

Enrolment management strategies that are used by the district to maximize student accommodation at full schools include:

  • Restricting Out of Catchment Enrolment
  • Placing Students from full schools at nearby school with available space
  • Maintaining order catchment waitlists
  • Aligning the timeline for placement offers for Kindergarten Choice programs with full school catchment enrolment offers

Refer to Chapter 6 of the current Long-Range Facilities Plan, approved on January 25, 2021 for more information.

District Enrolment Considerations   

Despite an overall increase in Vancouver’s population, both the birth rate and the number of school-aged children continue to decline in the city, resulting in a 26-year history of generally declining enrolment at the VSB. Although there is growth of school-aged children in certain high-density areas such as Olympic Village, the North Cambie Corridor, and Downtown core, this is offset by the declining number of school aged children in other areas in Vancouver. Several factors contribute to the enrolment decline including an ageing population, reduced birth rate, and housing unaffordability resulting in more families with school aged children moving out of the city.

Kindergarten Enrolment Data

Kindergarten Catchment School Spaces & Number of Students Requiring Placement

This table shows the number of kindergarten spots by catchment school (regular English program) and the number of students requiring placement in other schools. This does not include Kindergarten District Choice Program data. 

*Some of the Vancouver School District schools have inadequate physical space to accommodate in-catchment applicants and require enrolment management strategies in place to provide sound and equitable education. The list of full schools varies annually. 

Kindergarten District Choice Applicants & Number of Students on Waitlist

There are sixteen schools providing District Choice programs in the Vancouver School District. This table lists the number of applicants and waitlists for the District Choice programs. Download - PDF File

Related Committee Reports

Resources

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