Francophone school one of two expected to be built in Brandon

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This article was published 20/03/2025 (211 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — The Manitoba government will announce funding to build two schools in the city of Brandon in its budget today, the Brandon Sun has learned.

One school would be constructed in the city’s growing southwest, in the Brandon School Division, and it would be slated to open for the 2027 academic year.

The province is prepared to fund construction of a French-language school for the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine, with an opening date of September 2028. Once completed, the school would become the first in Brandon to offer French-language education geared for francophone students, as opposed to French immersion instruction.

The cost of each school won’t come until after the design phase, a provincial spokesperson said.

Linda Ross, chair of the Brandon School Division said schools in the division are “bursting at the seams.”

“For the last several years we have seen an increase of about 300 students per year, roughly,” she said. “Our immediate need right now is for a (kindergarten) to Grade 8 school. So if there’s one on the horizon, that would be fabulous.”

Before it was defeated in 2023, the Progressive Conservative government announced it would pay for the construction of nine schools in Manitoba under a public-private partnership model. That included a kindergarten to Grade 8 school in Brandon’s southwest, which would have accommodated a minimum of 700 students and 74 child-care spaces.

The Kinew government put the projects under review and later said they wouldn’t be built due to the P3 model.

BSD superintendent Matthew Gustafson said a new school in the southwest would need a capacity of 600 to 800 students.

“The rate of growth is probably going to require a larger building,” Gustafson said. “Maryland Park School was over capacity the day it was completed. Capacity has become a very significant issue for us.”

“In a perfect world, we could probably use… two K-to-8 schools and another high school,” Ross said.

Bernard Lesage, president of the Franco-Manitoban School Commission hailed the pending school-construction announcements.

“We know how important francophone schools are throughout the province, and the second-largest city in Manitoba, finally we get a francophone school there. I’m super, super excited about that,” he said.

DSFM operates École La Source, a kindergarten to Grade 12 francophone school at CFB Shilo. It’s already at capacity, Lesage said, and a new school in Brandon will meet the needs of students in the city who do not want to make the daily trip to Shilo.

“We have had parents who for many years now have been asking for a new school in Brandon,” Lesage said. “We know that often parents have students who are entitled to the French language education (but) won’t choose a school if it’s not in proximity.”

Lesage said the school would accommodate 450 students, as there remains a large number of parents in the area who want to be able to give their children a truly French education that also offers them cultural instruction.

“It’s not just a school, but it’s also often a cultural centre for the francophone community. So I think that’s a super big asset for the city of Brandon,” he said.

Land for the French school has been purchased, Lesage said, though he was not ready to disclose the location.

“So now we’ve got to work on the architectural plans and the design of this new school,” Lesage said.

— Brandon Sun