Image: SD33 / The Chilliwack Board of Education.

By Mike Vanden Bosch and Alyssa Conti

New school site

Chilliwack school board hopes B.C. govt. funds Promontory school site purchase in its next budget cycle

Dec 2, 2025 | 8:45 AM

CHILLIWACK — The Chilliwack School District hopes the provincial government steps up to cover property acquisition costs after its board voted in November to purchase a 6.8-acre property on Promontory Road for over $9 million.

According to a statement from the district, the Chilliwack Board of Education voted unanimously at a special meeting on Thursday, November 20 to purchase the property at 5303 Promontory Road for a future school site in Promontory.

The district is set to fund roughly $3.25 million of the purchase out of its own pocket, with up to $6.5 million worth of borrowing from Scotiabank.

“I think there is some risk for this district to borrow money from the bank, but I think for our district, there’s more risk in losing this property,” trustee Willow Reichelt said at the meeting on Nov. 20. “Trustee Swankey and I have been on the board for seven years, and every single year, this is one of the things we’re looking for […] I honestly didn’t think we were ever going to find one.”

Trustee Laurie Throness added that the province has acknowledged SD33’s need for a school in the “very crowded” Promontory area for the past decade, and hopes that the new school will be provincially funded upon site acquisition.

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The district says it contracted with environmental and geotechnical consultants to conduct detailed site testing and analysis, confirming the site is suitable for a 500-student elementary school.

What the district did not acknowledge in its statement posted to social media was that the property was purchased for over double its assessed value of $4,456,000.

With school enrolment on the rise over the past decade, the district says it has long sought suitable property in the Promontory area. The request for funding for a site has been in the district’s 5-year capital plan for over 10 years.

The district says Promontory Heights Elementary School’s capacity is 580 with a current enrolment of 603. The district says there is currently no opportunity to expand the existing facility due to site limitations and structural constraints. SD33 did not allude to the possibility of portables at Promontory Heights Elementary School.

As of 2025, there are approximately 850 students ages 5-10 years in the Promontory catchment.

“The Board of Education has heard from the community about the importance of long-term planning to address continued growth in Promontory,” said David Swankey, board chair. “Staff worked diligently to bring this opportunity forward for consideration by the Board. The risk of borrowing money to support this property purchase was acknowledged and the Board determined it was measured and proportionate to the opportunity presented. This property and a new school in Promontory are important to the current and future well-being of students in the district.”

SD33 acknowledges this opportunity falls outside the Ministry of Education’s regular funding cycle.

“The Board is hopeful that the province will cover the cost in the next funding cycle,” SD33 wrote in its statement. “Ministry approvals and funding are required for the construction of the school. A project of this size typically requires one to two years for design and Ministry approval, followed by two to three years of construction before a school is ready to open.”

Since 2018, the province and Chilliwack School District 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, as well as the 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 on McGrath Road, will integrated 1,200 spaces over the next two years.