Last week the Government of Saskatchewan announced that it will invest $28.5 million in the 2025-26 Relocatable Classroom Program with the goal of ensuring students have enough space to learn.
The funding will cover 39 new relocatable classrooms and two existing classrooms that will be moved.
The Ministry of Education confirmed in an email to the Daily Herald that the relocatable classroom in Prince Albert will be at Princess Margaret School in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division.
Saskatchewan Rivers director of education Neil Finch said applications for that particular school has been ongoing.
“We have applied for relocatable for the last number of years because of their capacity,” Finch said. “(The) enrollment exceeds the current facility capacity, so (the) relocatable given to us will be well utilized.
“There’s school population issues all over the place, so it’s good that you can get one in,” he added. “We’re excited about it.”
Finch said the relocatable will be a new one not a movement of an existing classroom in Prince Albert.
Saskatchewan Rivers last received a relocatable classroom for Arthur Pechey School. Finch said that getting selected again was nice for the division.
The Minister of Education explained last week that this is related to space issues for most schools in Saskatchewan.
“The Relocatable Classroom Program helps us address space pressures by adding classrooms where they are needed most,” Education Minister Everett Hindley said in a media release. “This helps us respond to enrolment growth and gives school divisions flexibility to manage local pressures.”
Other classrooms will go to schools in Regina, Saskatoon, Blaine Lake, Clavet, Corman Park, Humboldt, Lanigan and Swift Current. They will be installed over the summer and ready for students for the 2026-27 school year.
Hindley, was unavailable for further comments as of press time last week Instead, the ministry sent the following statement:
“The Relocatable Classroom Program is designed to address immediate needs for additional classroom space to accommodate increases in enrolments and offers school divisions flexibility at the local level to deal with pressures caused by growth.”
The statement went further to state that school divisions apply to the program for relocatable classrooms and requests are prioritized and selected based on projected enrolments.
“The government believes that relocatable classrooms are an effective solution to address enrolment pressures and provide quality learning space in a timely manner, and also offer the flexibility to be relocated to other schools when enrolment pressures ease.
“School divisions may build their relocatables on site or order pre-fabricated relocatables from a vendor, and they are required to adhere to the same standards, including building codes, as permanent structures,” reads the statement.
School divisions apply annually for relocatable classrooms and requests are prioritized based on projected enrolments. Relocatable classrooms meet the same building standards as permanent structures and can be moved to other schools as needs change.
The Prince Albert Catholic School Division applied for relocatable classrooms for Ecole St. Mary High School again this year and was denied again.
The province stated in their initial release that the government has committed $234 million to the Relocatable Classroom Program since it began in 2013-14.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
