Government of B.C. building new Cowichan Secondary school

DUNCAN, B.C. – A new, seismically-safe school is on the way for students in at Cowichan Secondary School.

The school was deemed unsafe more than a decade ago. The government of British Columbia will provide $79.9 million to replace Cowichan Secondary as part of the province’s seismic mitigation program, and the Cowichan Valley School District will provide $2.2 million.

“Every student deserves to learn in a quality school that will protect them in an earthquake,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education. “Cowichan Valley families have had to live with the fact that their school was deemed unsafe 15 years ago. That’s why our government has acted quickly to provide Cowichan Valley students with a new facility that fits 21st-century learning in a seismically safe environment.”

“The board of education is thrilled that the Cowichan Valley is getting a new secondary school. We have been working toward this day for a long time with our community partners, and we are so excited for what this announcement means to our learners, our staff and our community. We envision this new school as an anchor within our community, and we are grateful to the Ministry of Education for helping make this vision a reality,” Cowichan Valley School District board of education chair Candace Spilsbury added.

The new school will have capacity for 1,100 students and will include a new sports field and neighbourhood learning centre. It will be built on the Cowichan Place property next to Vancouver Island University’s Cowichan campus and is expected to be ready for students by Sept. 2023.

The original school was built in 1950 and had several additions until 1998. Students will stay in the existing facility until the new school is built and the facility will be retained and used as temporary space for students during future seismic upgrade projects in the district.

The investment is the first major school construction project in the Cowichan Valley since 2010 and is according to a B.C. government release “part of the province’s work to accelerate the Seismic Mitigation Program so every student can learn in a safe school as soon as possible.”