Surrey Schools sees slight drop in K-12 enrolment for 2025-26 school year
For the first time in more than two decades, Surrey Schools started the latest school year with fewer kindergarten to Grade 12 students than the year before, due to a 1.12% decline in regular enrolment.
At the Oct. 9 Surrey Board of Education public meeting, the board heard a district presentation on the Sept. 30 enrolment report, submitted to the Ministry of Education and Child Care every year for funding purposes. The report cited a headcount of 76,977 K-12 students, down 871 from 77,848 last year, with the decrease considered an unusual deviation after years of increases.
“This is a significant departure from the Surrey School District’s growth in previous years,” said Deputy Supt. Andrew Holland. “Last year, we grew by over 1,400 students, and the two years before that, we grew by well over 2,000 students.
“We haven’t seen a decline outside of COVID since at least previous to the year 2000. I’ve been here 32 years and there has not been a decline except one COVID year.”
The Ministry headcount tallies full-time equivalent (F.T.E.) enrolment, referring to students in elementary and secondary schools. This accounts for students on part-time schedules, taking more than eight courses, attending for one semester and other unique situations.
Holland attributed the decline to changes in federal immigration policy and temporary foreign worker permits, as well as some families moving farther east in B.C. or to other provinces. He also noted the Vancouver, Burnaby and Coquitlam school districts have similarly seen lowered enrolment, while districts east of Surrey remain steady or are growing slightly, such as Chilliwack.
The number of F.T.E. students has a significant impact on yearly operating budgets for school districts: Surrey Schools is funded by the Ministry on a per-student basis, with funding going up or down based on K-12 enrolment.
“We expect to see a decrease on the revenue side of somewhere between $10 and $14 million,” said Secretary-Treasurer Ray Velestuk. “There’s also an additional impact on international revenues that we expect to drop by upwards of $2 million.”
Additional decreases in international students and alternate learning followed similar patterns to the K-12 numbers, but the district saw a slight increase in adult learning. Online learning enrolment stayed the same.
The decline in enrolment is also anticipated to influence instructional staffing. However, even with fewer students, Michele Radomski, Executive Director of Human Resources, noted Metro Vancouver school districts continue to grapple with teaching staff shortages in the B.C. labour market.
“We expect staffing to continue to be a challenge and a priority even amidst changing enrolment,” she said. “There’s a continued shortage of teachers and other professionals globally in large part due to the continued retirements of the baby boomer cohort and an insufficient number of post-secondary graduates to replace them.
“In addition, the cost of living is prohibitive for many people, especially in the Lower Mainland, and we see people migrating east in the province and beyond.”
Despite these challenges, Holland noted growth is expected to return when federal immigration targets increase and as real estate developments near completion in Surrey, making it all the more important for work to continue on current and future district capital projects.
“Whether the student population increases next year or not, we have such a need for capital and I’m hoping the government will see this as instead an opportunity to start catching up rather than continuing to fall behind despite building schools,” said Trustee Bob Holmes.
Currently, the district has 13 capital projects funded by the Ministry, totaling 234 classrooms. Ten are under construction while the remaining three are in planning and design. (For status updates on the current capital projects, see the Capital Project Office progress chart.)
Board Chair Gary Tymoschuk agreed with Holmes and Holland, stressing the ongoing need for new schools and additions in Surrey ahead of enrolment growth returning.
“There’s ample opportunity for growth in Surrey and we know that Surrey will soon grow once again,” said Tymoschuk.
