Edmonton (Rajeev Sharma): Alberta students are heading back to school with the province announcing a record $10.8 billion investment in education aimed at hiring more teachers, expanding classroom support and creating additional student spaces.
The funding represents an increase of more than seven per cent and comes as Alberta’s school system continues to experience rapid enrolment growth. Nearly 90,000 additional students have entered the province’s schools over the past four years, putting pressure on classrooms and existing resources.
Premier Danielle Smith said the latest investment responds to concerns raised by parents and teachers about the need for additional support in schools.
More teachers and classroom assistance
A major portion of the funding is being directed toward classrooms facing complex learning and behavioural needs. Following information gathered from 108,000 classrooms across the province in fall 2025, the government is providing $218 million to school boards to establish 699 complexity teams.
Of those teams, 566 are already operating. They include teachers and educational assistants, with some teams also receiving help from specialists such as behavioural therapists and speech-language pathologists.
The initiative has resulted in the hiring of 566 teachers and 1,044 educational assistants, with further recruitment expected during the academic year.
The province is also putting another $25 million toward training and improving access to specialised services, particularly for students in rural and remote communities.
A separate $200-million Class Size Reduction Grant, announced earlier this year, is supporting additional teacher recruitment. School boards have reportedly hired 1,090 new kindergarten-to-Grade 9 teachers for the beginning of the school year.
Overall, Alberta says 2,127 teachers have been hired, including 471 recruited during the 2025-26 period outside the complexity-team initiative.
New classrooms planned across Alberta
The province is also accelerating construction and renovation projects to address growing demand for student spaces.
Under the $8.6-billion Schools Now program, launched in September 2024, 17 projects have been completed so far, creating or renovating 11,874 student spaces. The programme has also approved 85 new projects and accelerated work on 74 others, with the government saying some projects could be completed up to a year sooner.
There are currently 156 active school projects underway across Alberta.
To provide quicker relief in communities facing immediate capacity problems, the government is allocating another $200 million this year for approximately 5,900 student spaces. The plan includes 194 new modular classrooms, seven replacements and 35 relocations.
The investment builds on $100 million spent on modular classrooms during 2025-26, which resulted in almost 100 modular classrooms and more than 3,100 additional student spaces.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the increased funding is intended to give students greater access to teachers, educational assistants and other classroom resources while helping schools manage rising enrolment.
With student numbers continuing to grow, Alberta’s latest education spending package combines immediate classroom support with longer-term school construction, signalling a major expansion of the province’s efforts to keep pace with demand.
