Background
The northeast sector is one of the fastest growing areas in Metro Vancouver. Communities are fast becoming the place where young families, New Canadians and professionals are choosing to live. For example, Coquitlam’s Burke Mountain is expected to house between 24,000 and 30,000 more people.

As more people move to the area, enrollment in School District 43 growing. Over the next decade, we expect 5,000 more students. Some neighbourhoods have access to great new schools while others have no schools in their neighbourhoods.

The district, together with the Board of Education, has a strategy to manage its land assets to better support this growing need. Through the Land, Learning and Neighbourhoods initiative, four properties are under consideration to determine if we are making the best of use of them or if there are other ways in which we can maximize their value for students of today and the future.

Students First
Aligning decisions with a thriving public education system for students is a community value. As stewards of public funds, the school district must demonstrate that revenue from its land management initiatives provides financial returns that can be invested back in making a better learning environment for students.

Fair access for all students
Delivering fair, effective and positive learning environments for more than 5000 children over the next decade is the school district’s commitment. Land management initiatives must help meet the growing need in existing and new neighbourhoods.

Life-long learning in our communities
Delivering life-long long learning in our communities is the school district’s vision. We envision high-quality, diverse, personalized and enriched education opportunities for students. Managing assets to realize their full potential as resources, and possible revenue opportunities, will support this vision.

Fiscal responsibility
Applying any possible revenue opportunities to new schools, refurbishing old ones, or providing the capital money needed to improve infrastructure are just some of the options that can be considered. By law, any revenues raised cannot go into general operations funding and must be dedicated to new and/or improved infrastructure.

Neighbourhood renewal
The benefits of potentially repurposing land in the community goes beyond the school district. For example, releasing land for development creates new opportunities for neighbourhood revitalization. This will serve the highest and best use within the community to benefit all residents and taxpayers.