EDMONTON — Alberta students are returning to classrooms backed by what the province says is a record $10.8 billion in education funding, including money for more teachers, educational assistants and classroom space.
The province says the funding represents an increase of more than seven per cent as Alberta’s school system deals with rapid enrolment growth. Almost 90,000 additional students have entered the system over the past four years.
“Parents and teachers told us more was needed to support our world-class education system, and we listened,” Premier Danielle Smith said.
The province says 2,127 net new teachers have been hired, including 1,090 kindergarten to Grade 9 teachers through a $200-million Class Size Reduction Grant.
Another 566 teachers and 1,044 educational assistants have been hired through classroom complexity teams.
The province is providing $218 million to school boards to create 699 of those teams, with 566 already operating. The teams include teachers and educational assistants and can include specialists such as behavioural therapists and speech-language pathologists.
Another $25 million is going toward training and improving access to specialized student supports in rural and remote communities.
Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says the investments are intended to put more resources directly into classrooms.
“With record education funding, more teachers, more educational assistants, more in-class supports and more classroom space, we’re ensuring students have the resources they need to succeed,” Nicolaides said.
The province is also continuing its $8.6-billion Schools Now construction program, launched in September 2024.
The government says 17 projects have been completed under the program, creating or renovating 11,874 student spaces. Another 156 school projects are underway across Alberta.
The province says 85 new projects have been approved and 74 have been accelerated, with some construction timelines shortened by as much as a school year.
Another $200 million is being spent this year on modular classrooms to address immediate space pressures.
The province expects 194 new modular classrooms, seven replacements and 35 relocations to provide about 5,900 student spaces.
The funding follows a provincewide data collection effort involving 108,000 classrooms in fall 2025, which the government says is being used to target investments aimed at reducing class sizes and providing additional classroom supports.
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