Alberta announces $8.6B plan to build new schools

Smith said the plan aims to create an additional 150,000 student spaces in the four years after the initial three-year push, for a total of 200,000 over seven years.

Premier Danielle Smith has launched an ambitious school construction plan to help relieve pressure created by a population boom by creating 50,000 spaces for students over the next three years.

The School Construction Accelerator Program, announced by Smith in a provincewide televised address Tuesday evening, will cost $8.6 billion over three years. It adds $6.5 billion to the previously announced amount of $2.1 billion.

Smith said the plan aims to create an additional 150,000 student spaces in the four years after the initial three-year push, for a total of 200,000 over seven years.