Canada School Project Combats Overcrowding

By Lisa Kopochinski

WINNIPEG, Man.—A new elementary school construction in the western Canadian province of Manitoba will help alleviate an overcrowding problem in the city of Winnipeg, which has a population of approximately 700,000.

Work began on the 56,000-square-foot school last summer and will help relieve construction in the Seven Oaks School Division in northwest Winnipeg. This is one of the fastest growing residential areas of the city.

Parkwest Projects Ltd., a family-owned and operated firm specializing in commercial construction projects is the contractor on this $20-million project, which is located on a 10-acre site. The kindergarten to eighth-grade school will be able to house 450 students, with an expansion capacity of up to 600 students. Additionally, a childcare center will also be onsite for 20 infants and 54 preschool children.

“We have planned for larger classrooms and a lot of natural light,” says Seven Oaks School Division Superintendent Brian O’Leary, who adds that this particular design also mirrors that of the last several schools that have been built in this school division.

In 2016, Parkwest Projects Ltd. completed a kindergarten to eighth-grade French immersion school that featured an energy-efficient building with an advanced geothermal system, a masonry structure and educational components built into the construction of the floors and exterior walls. This new school will follow the same plan.

“This should be a good facility for the community,” adds O’Leary.

The new school is scheduled for completion and open to students by September 2020.