Image: Google Maps / The red pin at 5303 Promontory Road indicates the possible location for a future school site. It is situated on 6.8 acres.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Potential school site acquisition

Chilliwack school board to consider 6.8-acre property purchase in Promontory for over $9 million

Nov 13, 2025 | 10:53 AM

UPDATE: The Chilliwack school board has voted today at their special meeting to approve the first reading for the board bylaw for acquisition pertaining to the 6.8-acre property purchase of 5303 Promontory Road, according to a statement from SD33 communications manager Amy Dhanjal.

Original story below: 

CHILLIWACK — The Chilliwack Board of Education will consider a potential 6.8-acre property purchase in Promontory for a future school site at a special meeting today.

According to the text of a staff report from SD33 Secretary-Treasurer Simone Sangster, trustees will be asked to consider the pros and cons of purchasing 5303 Promontory Road for approximately $9.5 million. Their meeting is slated for Thursday morning, Nov. 13.

Sangster wrote in her report that with school district enrolment continually growing for the better part of nearly a decade, the Chilliwack School District has long looked for property in the Promontory area. In just the past five years,

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Sangster says the request for funding for a school site has been a part of the district’s five-year capital plan for the last decade. Funding for a site was approved in the 2023-24 provincial capital funding cycle, but a suitable, ideal property was not identified at the time.

In early 2025, SD33 was approached by the sellers of a 6.8-acre site in Promontory who asked if the district was interested in acquiring the property. Sangster says the site was recognized as an ideal location for an elementary school. In June 2025, SD33 entered a purchase and sale agreement with the vendor to acquire the property for $9.1 million subject to the district’s due diligence and approval from the school board and the Ministry of Education. The date for the release of subject terms was extended to Nov. 14, 2025.

Sangster says the district’s due diligence confirmed the suitability of the site for a 500-student elementary school over the summer. An architect the suitability for situating a 500-student elementary school and conducted environmental and geological surveys and testing, which confirmed the suitability of the site for a school, Sangster said.

The total acquisition costs are expected to total about $9.5 million, including a purchase price of $9.1 million, $145,600 in GST fees, and due diligence, appraisal and legal fees of approximately $250,000.

Sangster wrote in her report that the district has $3,250,000 of school site acquisition charge (SSAC) funds, which are available to fund the purchase of the site. The remainder of the acquisition cost will be funded by borrowings.

She says the Ministry-supported, or funded projects for 2025-26 did not envision a property acquisition.

“Timing of when a property becomes available and when the Ministry approves funding can be difficult to match up,” Sangster’s report stated. “A property acquisition in the South of Chilliwack has been listed in the district’s 5-year capital plan for more than 10-years. Unfortunately, the Ministry was unable to provide funding support for the acquisition at this time.”

Sangster says the B.C. minister of infrastructure has provided approval for the board to borrow up to $6.5 million, under section 144 of the School Act, to fund the purchase of the property. Future SSAC’s will be used to pay interest on the loan with any remaining funds used to pay down the principal.

SD33 has received approval from Scotiabank for an annually renewing operating line facility of $6,500,000 at prime interest rate with interest payable monthly, Sangster wrote in her report.

“We anticipate drawing on $6,000,000 for the acquisition and the estimated annual cost of interest on a $6,000,000 loan is currently $282,000,” the report indicated. “While SSAC’s are based on actual developer activity, a review of recent payments indicates that we might anticipate an annual receipt of SSAC funds of approximately $200,000.”