Alberta has opened four new collegiate schools for the 2026-27 school year and provided expansion funding to 14 existing schools, as enrolment grows across the province’s 32 collegiate schools. The new schools are CTR Strathmore and District Practical Ranching School, Calgary Skilled Trades and Technologies Collegiate, Grande Prairie Regional Career Collegiate and St. Joseph the Worker Collegiate.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told Postmedia he expects more Alberta schools to offer collegiate programming in the future, citing rising enrolment. “Our society and our economy is more competitive today than ever before,” Nicolaides said.
“If there are things that a student can do to get a jump start on their post-secondary pathway or a career, then I think students are really looking for those opportunities to get ahead of some of their peers.”
Nicolaides said university programs are becoming more competitive to enter and post-secondary fees are increasing. He believes more students may consider collegiate schools as another way to decide on their future.
The schools offer specialized programming in a particular subject or field, linked to post-secondary institutions or industry partners. The provincial government announced funding for the model in 2022, and the first collegiate schools opened in 2023. There are now 32 operating across Alberta.
Collegiate programs can be offered by public, separate, francophone, public charter and accredited funded private schools. The province assesses the model in part by tracking enrolment, Nicolaides said, and opens applications each year for new collegiate programs and expansions to existing ones. Applications for expansion have also increased.
“These measures demonstrate to us that there is a strong demand from both the school division, the students themselves and from industry,” Nicolaides said.
The 14 schools receiving funding are Heartland Collegiate in Fort Saskatchewan; Monsignor McCoy First Responders in Medicine Hat; PSD Collegiate in Stony Plain and Fort Chipewyan; Prairie Land Collegiate in Hanna, Cessford, Altario and Youngstown; St. Albert Collegiate Pathways; STAR Catholic Collegiate in Drayton Valley, Ponoka and Leduc; and Sturgeon Collegiate.
The list also includes The Canadian Rockies Collegiate Institute in Banff; St. Eligius Collegiate in Edmonton; HPSD Pathways School/Future Pathways in High Prairie; Fusion Collegiate in Calgary; South Alberta Flight Academy and Yuill School of Agriculture in Dunmore, Cypress County; North Peace Commercial Driving Academy in Peace River and Grimshaw; and Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute in Lethbridge.
Nicolaides said the funding will let schools renovate unused spaces and make some collegiate programming available to students in different areas. Budget 2026 earmarked $32.1 million in operating and capital funding for collegiate schools.
The Edmonton Journal report also listed two related articles: one about Alberta investing $27.5 million to fund 16 new collegiate schools and renovate four, and another about the province spending about $600 million on education for children of temporary residents as an immigration referendum looms. The report encouraged readers to bookmark EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com, sign up for newsletters and support journalism through digital subscriptions, which provide unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Its contact address was ctran@postmedia.com.
Based on reporting by Edmonton Journal.