Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Student enrolment data

Over 1/3 of Chilliwack School District sites over capacity, including the city’s largest school

Nov 19, 2025 | 6:55 AM

CHILLIWACK — The latest enrolment figures from the Chilliwack School District reveal that a dozen school sites in SD33 are over capacity, including the city’s largest school.

According to the latest student data from Superintendent Rohan Arul-pragasam, 12 of the 29 schools in SD33 are over capacity.

They include Chilliwack Secondary, which was designed to accommodate 1,200 pupils but currently has 1,620 students (135 per cent capacity), as well as G.W. Graham (1,605 students, 115 per cent capacity) and Sardis Secondary (1,501 students, 125 per cent capacity). Sardis Secondary is undergoing a 400-seat expansion, which was previously announced in April 2023 (31 months ago).

Chilliwack was the second-fastest growing census metropolitan area in all of Canada between 2016 and 2021. That massive population growth appears to have caught up to local schools, resulting in overcrowding at assorted school sites.

As of November 2025, total district enrolment (K-12 only) shows 15,192 students, placing the district at 103 per cent of functional capacity.

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“This continued growth pattern reflects both strong community demand and population shifts toward secondary and middle levels,” Arul-pragasam’s report stated. “Overcapacity at certain schools is increasingly impacting space flexibility, program delivery, and scheduling. At the same time, newer or recently expanded schools such as Imagine High and Leary Integrated Arts & Technology continue to operate below capacity, presenting potential opportunities for enrolment balancing and boundary adjustments in future planning cycles. The data reinforces the need for strategic long-range facility planning to ensure sustainable growth management, equitable learning environments, and appropriate resource allocation across the district.”

The school with the highest calculated capacity is Cheam Elementary at 217 per cent. It was intended to accommodate up 120 students but currently enrols 260 learners. One of the biggest draws to the school is early French Immersion.

Among middle schools, Mount Slesse enrols 611 (94 per cent capacity), while A.D. Rundle (564 pupils, 125 per cent capacity), Vedder Middle (671 students, 112 per cent capacity), and Chilliwack Middle (640 students, 122 per cent capacity) are bursting at the seams by being well over capacity.

Overcrowding at Chilliwack Middle could be one of the reasons SD33 personnel are considering shifting French Immersion away from the school to Rosedale Traditional, which is still facing its own degree of overcrowding at 117 capacity (606 students enrolled). The new 500-seat East Side Elementary currently under construction on McGrath Road is expected to open in September 2027 and alleviate some of that overcrowding.

District officials expect enrolment to continually increase, raising concerns that SD33 will face imbalanced enrolment and overcrowded schools if left unchecked.

“When schools are overfull, it can impact students’ opportunities and access to spaces,” the district wrote in a letter to parents.

At a public Board of Education meeting in the new year, SD33 staff will make recommendations to the Board of Education on how to balance long-term enrolment and school capacity.

Speaking of being overfull, in less than five years since it first opened, Stitó:s Lá:lém Totí:lt Elementary Middle School is now over capacity with 961 students. Its capacity is 930 students, according to the district’s own numbers.

The school with the lowest capacity that can conceivably grow the most is Imagine High Integrated Arts/Technology School. It has 600 student spaces but only enrols 354 students for a capacity of 59 per cent.

The smallest elementary school of the 29 school sites in SD33 is Greendale Elementary, which can hold up to 170 students and is nearly at capacity with 163 students.

Image: SD33