Image: SD33

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Property acquisition

Amid rising enrolment, Chilliwack school board OK’s church purchase for site expansion

Jun 18, 2025 | 7:16 AM

CHILLIWACK — The seven-member Chilliwack Board of Education approved the purchase of Christ Lutheran Church in Chilliwack at its meeting Tuesday night (June 17).

In a statement released Tuesday night, the school district says the property at 9460 Charles Street next to Chilliwack Middle School affords SD33 with a “rare opportunity” to prepare for possible future expansion.

Given the lack of available land throughout Chilliwack, the district says acquiring properties adjacent to existing SD33 schools was prioritized in the 2021-2025 Long-Range Facilities Plan and in the district’s 2025-2026 Five-Year Capital Plan submission to the Ministry of Education and Child Care. Rapid enrollment growth has propelled SD33 to over 15,000 students, putting pressure on the district.

“The Board of Education has heard from the community about the importance of long-term planning to address continued growth in our District,” said board chair David Swankey. “This acquisition is a win for future students in our urban centre. We’re grateful to the congregation at Christ Lutheran Church for working with District staff on this opportunity.”

The capacity of Chilliwack Middle School is 525, but has a current enrolment of 604, 115 per cent. District staff anticipate that enrollment at the school will reach 692 (132 per cent) by 2028.

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The motion that trustees voted on would have purchased the church and its 0.73-acre parcel of land for $3,040,000.

District staff wrote in a report attached to the agenda that student enrolment in SD33 has increased over the past five years and many schools are operating at or above capacity. At the same time, there is ongoing densification of Chilliwack’s urban area, coupled with development of Chilliwack-area First Nations lands for housing. The district notes there is corresponding pressure to make additions to existing schools or build new schools, which is what SD33 is currently doing out in Rosedale on McGrath Road with the forthcoming East Side Elementary.

SD33 says leadership from Christ Lutheran Church Chilliwack approached the school district about their site, which is adjacent to Chilliwack Middle School. Due to growth in this area, the school district anticipates using the site for expansion of the existing school, and says the site represents one of the few potentially available sites in downtown Chilliwack.

“Given it is adjacent to the middle school and across the road from the high school, the site provides the school district with several options for future expansion,” the district wrote in its report. “Today, we present to the board an agreement to purchase the property from the Church congregation.”

Chilliwack School District does not have immediate plans to utilize the site and proposes to lease the property back to the congregation for continued operation as a church and community meeting space. As a result, district staff recommended that the board approve the purchase and lease it back to the congregation of Christ Lutheran Church. The site consists of a church building and parking lot.

Image: Google Maps / Christ Lutheran Church in Chilliwack.

According to BC Assessment, Christ Lutheran Church was built in 1970 and has a current assessed value of $2,886,300.

Since 2018, the province and SD33 have added 2,420 new school spaces for students with the opening of Stitó:s Lá:lém Totí:lt Elementary/Middle and Imagine High Integrated Arts and Technology, and expansions to G.W. Graham Secondary, Vedder Elementary and Promontory Heights Elementary. Expansions at Sardis Secondary and AD Rundle Middle, coupled with the construction of the new East Side Elementary School, will add 1200 spaces over the next two years.