Burnaby's old Duthie-Union Elementary School will soon be no more, according to a Ministry of Education announcement about a brand new francophone school planned for the site.
Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (the province's French language school board), bought the 5.75-acre Duthie-Union property at 7231 Frances St. in late 2021 for $24 million.
At the time, the chair of the francophone school board told the NOW it was too early to tell whether the school building currently on the site would meet its needs or whether a new school would have to be built on the property.
That question was answered Friday (Jan. 19), when the province announced plans for a brand-new, 360-student school for francophone kids from kindergarten to Grade 6.
"We are filled with immense joy to see, after many years of perseverance, the construction of our first elementary school in Burnaby come to fruition," CSF board chair Marie-Pierre Lavoie said in the government news release. "Securing provincial funding is crucial in order to provide equivalent French-language education in this region, which will enable the children of rightsholders in this region to receive their primary education closer to home."
The province said it has provided nearly $41 million for the project and "additional funding applications will be established throughout the design process."
A timeline for the new school, which will include a neighbourhood learning centre for child care and community use, will be known once CSF is further into its planning and design stage, according to the Education Ministry.
"Presently, the province anticipates that construction of this three-storey school will start during the summer of 2025, with an estimated completion of fall 2027," stated an email from the ministry.
The new school will be built to LEED Gold standards, minimizing greenhouse gas emissions by 95 per cent in comparison to a traditionally built school, according to the news release.
Education Minister Rachna Singh said Burnaby has a thriving francophone community that will benefit from a permanent new school closer to where families live.
"Our government is building, expanding and upgrading schools like this one for the CSF in Burnaby, so students can learn in safe, modern schools and access their education closer to home, making dropoff and pickup more convenient for their families."
But B.C. francophone parents' legal battle to get a French-language school in Burnaby has been a long one – opposed all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada by provincial governments under both the BC Liberals and the BC NDP.
In a June 2020 ruling, Canada's highest court determined the province and Ministry of Education had infringed on B.C. francophone parents' rights and declared they were entitled to several more schools, including one in Burnaby.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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