Overview

The Coal Harbour neighbourhood is getting a new school that will help meet the growing enrolment demand in downtown Vancouver. Initial enrolment planning has been undertaken, and the catchment boundaries in the downtown area needed to be updated to effectively plan for future years.

Administrative Procedure (AP) 305 — School Catchment Boundaries — sets the guidelines for creating or changing catchments.

Until the new school building for Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw opens, students currently enrolled at the new school are temporarily located at Lord Roberts Elementary and the Lord Roberts Annex site. Currently, schools in the downtown area include one secondary school (King George) and four K-7 elementary schools (Lord Roberts, Elsie Roy, šxʷwəq̓ʷəθət Crosstown, and Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw)

On September 17, 2025, staff presented potential catchment options at the Facilities Planning Committee – online materials are available here. Several factors were considered in the creation of these options, guided by AP 305. This includes: 

• Population and capacity –enrolment pressures in the downtown continue to exceed the operating capacity. The catchment options consider the schools’ operating capacity and where families reside. 
• Natural boundaries – For downtown schools, the peninsula is bounded by English Bay, False Creek, Coal Harbour and Stanley Park.
• Walking distances – The catchment options consider suitable walking paths for families and students, as well as barriers and neighbourhood composition. 
• Neighbourhood connectivity - The City of Vancouver has identified several sub areas and community plans in the downtown core. The catchment options consider how residents relate to these neighbourhoods and sub-areas.
• Student safety – The catchment options consider major roads, bike lanes and crossings in the downtown core. 

Options A, B, and C

* The diagram above shows the 3 options (outlines) overlaid onto the catchments as they existed during this engagement process (shading).

Please note that the figures in the diagram show an average (2020-2024) for K-7 all program VSB enrolment residing in catchment boundaries. This is used as a way to provide a high-level estimation of a maximum capacity utilization and to describe the general magnitude of the catchment area in terms of in-catchment VSB students). 

For a detailed analysis of the catchment options, please read the report.  

Online maps are also available describing the catchment change options:

• Option A
• Option B
• Option C

Outcome

On November 5, 2025, staff presented the engagement findings at the Facilities Planning Committee. The meeting can be streamed here.  

Based on the feedback and staff analysis, Option C emerged as a balanced and slightly preferred option.  As such, the Facilities Planning Committee recommended:
THAT the Board approve the school catchment boundary change outlined in Option C for the downtown
area and that staff implement the new catchment boundary for the 2026 - 2027 school year.

On November 26, 2025, the Board approved the above recommendation from the Facilities Planning Committee. The catchment boundary changes have been effective since that time.

Common Questions and Answers

Which catchments are changing?

The Coal Harbour neighbourhood is getting a new K-7 elementary school (Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw) that will help meet the growing enrolment demand in downtown Vancouver.

A catchment change process was completed in fall 2025 and included 3 options for catchment boundaries at downtown elementary schools. The catchment change process included two main components:

1. a new catchment was created for the new Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw elementary school, and
2. the catchments for šxʷwəq̓ʷəθət Crosstown Elementary, Elsie Roy Elementary and Roberts Elementary were adjusted. 

The catchment change process is part of managing enrolment at these schools and throughout the downtown and also took into consideration the distance between student residences and catchment schools.

Are the catchment changes approved?

Yes, the catchment changes were approved by the Board at the November 26, 2025 Board meeting. The changes are in effect and are reflected in the online registration process. The online catchment map will be updated soon with the new catchments.

The approved catchment boundary changes enable families to plan for future school enrolment and to provide administrative clarity to the school district in terms of downtown student enrolment in conjunction with the new school.

*Note: Until the new Seaside Elementary school building opens, students currently enrolled at this school are temporarily located at Lord Roberts Elementary and the Lord Roberts Annex site.

Will my child have to change schools if my catchment has changed?

No. The process of changing catchment boundaries does not require any students to change the school they currently attend.

Families can also choose to register in their new catchment school. If the new catchment school is full, students will be waitlisted following standard district enrolment procedures outlined in AP 300 - Admission to School.

What happens if I have a child in school now, and a younger sibling who will be entering Kindergarten in a future year?

Priority kindergarten registration is open from November 1 to January 31 every year. For families with a sibling entering kindergarten and whose school catchment boundary changes, the kindergarten student will have priority to attend the same school as their older sibling, provided they register during the priority registration period. This keeps siblings together and gives families continuity after a catchment boundary change. If families prefer, they can also choose to register in the new catchment. In this case, the student will be enrolled in the new catchment school, pending available space.

The following are the enrolment priorities when a school’s catchment boundary changes: 

District staff will contact kindergarten applicants who are directly impacted by the catchment change, to confirm their catchment school. In this instance, staff will contact any impacted family registering for kindergarten living in the catchments of Lord Roberts, Elsie Roy, šxʷwəq̓ʷəθət Crosstown or the new school (Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw). 

If I live downtown, which school do I register at?

Families should apply to their catchment school, which is now updated with the approved catchment changes. The application website is VSB Apply Now. Families can also find their catchment through the school locator website.  
 
Families with Grade 1-12 students who are new to the District should also apply through VSB ApplyNow. Families of current K-12 VSB students who have moved into a downtown catchment from outside of the downtown area should contact their previous catchment school about the transfer process.

Where can I provide my feedback on this proposal?

The public engagement process has concluded. There were several ways to provide feedback.

1. In-person engagement session 
   • These drop in events included the catchment options, the criteria used to shape them, and enrolment impacts. The events included the opportunity to speak with District staff and provide feedback.  
     • Elsie Roy Elementary: Oct 7, 2025, 3:00 – 7:00 p.m in the gym 
     • šxʷwəq̓ʷəθət Crosstown Elementary: Oct 8, 2025, 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. in the gym 
     • Lord Roberts Elementary: Oct 9, 2025, 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. in the gym 
2. Survey 
   • Live from October 7, 2025 to 17, 2025 (survey closed at 11:59 p.m.). 
3. Email feedback 
   • All emails received via engage@vsb.bc.ca by noon on October 24, 2025 were shared with the Board as part of the final engagement report as an option to provide feedback for those not able to attend the engagement sessions.   

When will I know about the catchment change decision?

The Board approved Option C as presented, on November 26, 2025. This helps families registering for kindergarten to have clear direction about their own catchment. Please note, kindergarten registration is not based on a first come first serve basis. Families who register anytime between November 1, 2025 and January 31, 2026 will be given priority registration for the 2026-2027 school year. More information on kindergarten registration can be found on govsb.ca/kindergarten. 

Will King George Secondary, the only public secondary school in the downtown area, be impacted by this catchment change?

No, the changes did not impact the catchment boundary for secondary schools.

Will these catchment changes impact my school’s capacity?

The goal of this catchment review is to balance enrolment across downtown schools. The physical capacity of each school will remain the same.  Adjusting the boundaries allows more students to live closer to their catchment school, and for more catchment students to be able to attend their catchment school. Each proposed option would result in a slightly different capacity utilization between schools as is indicated in the graphics showing the proposed boundaries.   

When will the new school open?

The new school, Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw, is currently enrolling students. However, the new school building, located at 482 Broughton Street, is not yet complete. The Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw school community is attending school at two temporary sites (Robert Elementary and Roberts Annex) until construction on new building is complete.  

The construction of the new school is led by the City of Vancouver. The City has informed the District that they expect the building to be complete and ready for students at the start of the 2026/27 school year. Should construction finish sooner, the students enrolled at Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw will move sooner too. 

What is happening to the Roberts Annex school building? What about the Roberts Annex students?

BC Hydro is undertaking work to prepare for the construction of the new West End Substation which will be built at the Lord Roberts Annex property to replace the Dal Grauer Substation on Burrard Street.   The building is currently being used as a temporary accommodation site for most of the students enrolled at the new school at Coal Harbour, until construction of that school building is complete. The majority of students who attended Roberts Annex last year are either enrolled at Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txwor at Lord Roberts Elementary.  Once students have relocated to Seaside | cəw̓as | Ch’elxwá7elch Skwuláw̓txw, the Annex building will be demolished to coincide with the start of the BC Hydro project.

Resources

A summary of the feedback heard can be found in the engagement summary report November 2025 

View the Information boards displayed during the engagement sessions on Oct 7 and 8th.

View 2025 09 25 downtown catchment review information postcard

Below is a Director of Facilities, Jessie Gresley-Jones, presenting the downtown catchment review at the  Facilities Planning Committee meeting on Sept 17, 2025