REGINA — The Regina Public Schools (RPS) is facing delays on multiple key projects.
On Friday, Education Minister Everett Hindley confirmed the province is pausing several education projects to “advance them sustainably with respect to the financing.”
For the RPS, three projects have been put on hold by the province, including renovations to Campbell Collegiate, a new joint-use elementary school in The Towns neighbourhood and a new joint-use secondary school also in the Towns.
Mark Haarmann, director and CEO of Regina Public Schools, said he found out about the news during Saskatchewan’s release of the 2026 budget on Wednesday.
“We view this obviously as disappointing.”
Portions of Campbell Collegiate had been set to undergo demolition in June 2026, with renovation set to be completed in roughly two years.
A report from a 2022 site visit confirmed that settlement and movement underneath the school had caused faults in the structure of the building’s three-story portion and practical applied arts area.
Haarmann assured the project’s further delay wouldn’t cause risk to other parts of Campbell Collegiate.
“There’s no indication that there is any kind of safety concern or anything that would move this rapidly to the point of putting students at risk.”
The RPS also had considered restricting enrolment at Campbell Collegiate to students within designated attendance boundaries.
“We can’t be committing to students coming in who potentially won’t have space for in the long run,” said Haarmann.
However, a decision on this hasn’t been finalized yet.
From his understanding, Haarmann said the Campbell Collegiate project would likely resume within the next two to four years.
Overcrowding concerns
The joint-use elementary school in the Towns neighbourhood had been set to open in the fall of 2028.
Regina city council discussed the site in March, identifying the need for a new educational institute.
“A new school is urgently needed in this area as the existing neighbourhood schools are currently operating over capacity,” said Deborah Bryden, deputy city manager of city planning and community development.
The school will accommodate 1,400 students, including 800 for the RPS.
Haarmann said the RPS had a plan in place to ensure students wouldn’t be significantly disrupted by 2028.
“We would have done a significant boundary change that involved École Wascana Plains School, École W.S. Hawrylak School, École Wilfrid Walker School, and École Massey School, moving about 200 students.”
The RPS has also installed portable classrooms at Jack MacKenzie School and W.F. Ready School to help address overcrowding.
With the delay, Haarmann believes the school board can manage until 2029, as the school board is seeing a decrease in immigration.
However, he acknowledged difficult challenges ahead without additional investment, more portable classrooms, or transporting students farther across the city.
The school board is also unsure of when the new joint-use secondary school in The Towns will open, as it had a target of 2030.
Haarmann will talk to the Ministry of Education in the coming weeks to get a sense of when the schools could open.
