#277 Modular Classrooms, Explained with Minister Nicolaides

We talk with Alberta’s Minister of Education, Minister Nicolaides, about the province’s $600 million investment in modular classrooms and why the plan focuses on speed. We break down what modular classrooms are, how quality standards work, and how the Schools Now program aims to relieve enrolment pressure while new schools are built. 

• What a modular classroom is and how it is built off-site 
• Why modulars are used as a temporary stopgap for overcrowded schools 
• Alberta’s enrolment growth and the time gap between demand and new builds 
• Quality, safety, and government specifications for modular units 
• How modular classrooms have been used in Alberta for decades 
• How the $600 million Schools Now funding translates into classrooms, washrooms, and student spaces 
• Why the modular budget does not reduce planned new school construction 
• The challenge of forecasting population growth and adjusting long-term capital plans 
 
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Transcript

Welcome And Funding Announcement

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Universal Radio Network. This is the preed, and today we're talking about the recent announcement, the$600 million that's going to be invested over three years to build more modular classrooms right here in our province. And to talk about this further, the Minister of Education is joining us. Welcome, Minister. How are you today?

SPEAKER_01 0:17

I'm doing very well. Thank you. Thanks for having me again.

What Modular Classrooms Are

SPEAKER_00 0:20

No, absolutely. I know today, this announcement, there's a lot of questions about modular classrooms, what this is. And let's actually begin right from here, Minister. What exactly is a modular classroom?

SPEAKER_01 0:31

A modular classroom is a pre-developed classroom that's uh essentially built in a factory and is added on to an existing school. Um, I had the opportunity uh maybe last year, I believe it was, to tour a factory just outside of Calgary that makes some of these uh modular classrooms. And I was quite impressed. Uh, they're very high quality and can be dispatched to schools in a fairly quick manner and can help to alleviate pressure at school sites where there's a lot of enrollment pressure.

Stopgap Relief For Overcrowding

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Now, are we thinking of modular classrooms as like a long-term solution for the province, or is it more of like a stopgap measure to deal with the overcrowding of classrooms that we're currently seeing?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Yeah, this is more of a stopgap measure. Um the the use of modulars is is not new. It's something that uh the province has used uh for for decades, uh, and usually they're used as a stopgap measure. Uh what we're what we're experiencing right now in the province is uh significant enrollment growth. We've added 80,000 students in just over three years. And so with this tremendous growth, we've been moving as aggressively as we can to build new schools. However, those schools take time. It can take three to five years to build a school versus eight to ten months to build a modular classroom. So while those schools are under construction, uh, these new modulars will help to provide some temporary relief until those schools can come online.

Quality Standards And Safety Concerns

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Thank you for sharing that. I know with modular classrooms, some questions and some concerns that do come up is will these classrooms have the same standards as permanent classrooms? So, what do you feel about that? Do you feel like the modular classrooms are at the same quality and the same standard? Or is that something that you feel is not a concern with modular classrooms?

Alberta’s History With Modulars

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Yeah, again, having the opportunity to visit one of these factories myself, it's something that I personally would not have any concern about. Uh, furthermore, though, uh the Ministry of Infrastructure has very high standards when it comes to uh pre-built classrooms and very detailed specifications that the factory must meet. And that uh that is indeed the case. We would not be purchasing modulars from a contractor or a supplier if they're not able to meet our high government standards.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

And for our listeners to understand further, have we had modular classrooms before in the province? Or is this a new concept that we're bringing into Alberta?

Schools Now Funding And Rollout

SPEAKER_01 3:10

No, it's something that has happened uh for for many years, for decades. It's something that uh many previous governments uh have used. Um in fact, at my my kids' own school, uh one of the wings is uh is developed for modular classrooms. They can be very effective because sometimes, of course, you build a school and then maybe the demographics change or there's a new development that occurs and you need to add some capacity. So adding some modulars to that school can help to temporarily add some space and then you can move the modular to another site. So it's something that um has been common practice in Alberta for for many, many years.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Absolutely. And now this eight, six hundred million dollars that is being invested, can we talk more about how this is going to be used and how it's gonna fit in with the broader Schools Now program? That's a program that we've heard a lot about as well. And overall, how this is gonna be supporting the education capital spending.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Yeah, absolutely. The$600 million that we're allocating uh is part of the Schools Now program. When we were developing the program back in 2024, we realized that uh we need to move quickly to build new schools. But as I mentioned, we also realized that it can take three to five years to uh to fully build a school. And so we decided to set uh some of the dollars aside from the Schools Now program to uh purchase modular classrooms. And that's precisely what we're doing. Uh, with the$200 million that we're investing this year, we will be able to purchase 189 new modular classrooms and 12 uh uh modular washroom units. In total, uh, those will create about uh just over 5,000 uh student spaces across the province. They'll be delivered to our major school divisions, of course, many of them going to Calgary school divisions at Edmonton School Divisions, but many other school authorities across the province uh will also be receiving modular classroom units.

Budget Impact On New Schools

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Excellent. And I guess one other question that might come up with this is does this affect the budget of the new schools that we're hoping are coming into Alberta, or is this budget in addition to what is being put aside for that?

Long-Term Planning Amid Uncertain Growth

SPEAKER_01 5:27

No, this is um this is part of our total schools now spending. It's something that we had already uh budgeted for and planned for. So it will not be taking away from any of the new school construction uh that is underway or those new projects. Uh it's uh it's funding that we had already planned on spending to uh to help add spaces quickly.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

And taking a look at sort of like the long-term vision here for Alberta, as enrollment is increasing, as population is increasing, how will an Alberta ensure that the long-term school construction is keeping in pace with the growth of Alberta?

Where To Learn More And Closing

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Well, of course, it as we've seen over the last few years, it can be incredibly difficult and challenging to predict what lies ahead. Uh, going back to 2022, for example, um, the Calgary Board of Education, as just one example, uh, had made a decision to wind down and close 14,000 student spaces or 22 schools. Other school divisions were making similar decisions. And then fast forward to 2023, and we saw the largest population and enrollment growth in Alberta history. So it can be challenging. Uh, that being said, our projections for next year are uh quite low. Uh, it looks as though enrollment increase will only be about 1% for next year, uh, which is much lower than we've seen in the past. In the past couple of years, we've seen enrollment increase at four, four and a half percent. And so uh it shows that things are potentially slowing down. And we will always examine those projections and adjust our plans as needed.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Thank you, Minister. I appreciate the insight into this. And I know many Albertans may have questions, and we will be sharing resources on our social media where everyone can find more information. Is there anything else you would like to share with all of our listeners today? Uh no, I think we covered it all. Thank you so much. Amazing. And everyone, thank you for tuning in. That was Minister Nicoledes, the Minister of Education. Thank you.