Recently, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools has seen a large influx in student enrollment, and the division is requesting 36 portable classrooms to combat a lack of space.

Diane Boyko, GSCS Board Chair, says this year, the division saw an increase of 1600 students, 2500 in the last two years, and 4000 new students since 2017.

She says the cause for the enrollment surge is a result of immigration from countries such as Ukraine and Nigeria. She adds that although mass immigration is a compliment to the province and the school division, there needs to be some supports and resources provided to go along with the growth.

“Saskatchewan is a very good place to raise children, and at Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools we’re really blessed that people are choosing the Catholic education for their students,” Boyko admitted.

She says the division is lobbying the Ministry of Education in an effort to gain resources such as portables and the announcements of new schools. Boyko says the request for 36 portables exceeds the Ministry of Education’s entire Provincial budget for portables.

“We’re hoping that they’ll recognize that there are circumstances that we have here in our urban divisions.”

Meanwhile teachers are stuck using band rooms, computer labs, and science labs as classrooms.

“We talk about planning ahead, and I think we believe that growth works for everyone. Well, we don’t want to wait until that growth gets to such a critical level that we have to react,” she stated.

She says that as a growing school division, there are several new schools needed across the city, as a new one hasn’t been built since 2017. These include new elementary schools in Brighton, Aspen Ridge, and Kensington, new middle school on Corman Park, and a new east side high school.