$150 million in new BC funding for Olympic Village elementary school

$150 million in new provincial funding to build Vancouver Olympic Village elementary school

Previous highly conceptual artistic rendering of Vancouver Olympic Village Elementary School; not the actual design. (Vancouver School Board)

If all goes as planned, in just over five years from now, the first students will be enrolled at Vancouver Olympic Village’s newly-built elementary school.

The provincial government announced today it will set aside over $150 million to build the new elementary school serving the Southeast False Creek neighbourhood.

It will be a four-storey building for up to 630 elementary students, plus a neighbourhood learning centre featuring a childcare facility with a rooftop play area.

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In terms of student capacity, Olympic Village Elementary School would be amongst Vancouver School Board’s largest elementary schools and the largest elementary school built in years.

This school has been a long time coming. Currently, as of today’s announcement, it is timed for an opening in Fall 2029.

Today’s announcement was hinted in the 2024 budget in February, and it comes just ahead of the general provincial election this October.

An elementary school serving the growing high-density residential neighbourhood in Vancouver’s Southeast False Creek area has been planned by the municipal government since the 2000s. In more recent years, municipal officials, residents in the area, and parents of nearby schools experiencing long waitlists at their at-capacity catchment school have been calling for the provincial government to expedite funding for the project.

The BC NDP included an Olympic Village elementary school as a campaign promise in the 2020 election. The previous formal update on the project was in June 2022, when the provincial government provided the concept plan with preliminary approval, enabling Vancouver School Board (VSB) to enter the next stage of planning.

“Our government is focused on building new and expanded schools in communities that are growing and facing enrolment pressures,” said Rachna Singh, BC Minister of Education and Child Care and the BC NDP MLA for Surrey-Green Timbers, in a statement today. “As communities in BC continue to grow, we’ll continue to invest in services that families need.”

olympic village elementary school location

Site of the future Olympic Village elementary school. (City of Vancouver)

Olympic Village Southeast False Creek school

Master plan of Southeast False Creek, which includes the Olympic Village. The location of the planned elementary school at Hinge Park is circled in red. (City of Vancouver / Daily Hive)

The large open grassy site at Hinge Park in Vancouver’s Olympic Village is slated to become an elementary school and daycare. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

In 2021, VSB and Vancouver City Council approved a 99-year lease for the use of the City-owned site for an elementary school.

In accordance with the City of Vancouver’s Southeast False Creek Plan, the new school will be located on a temporary open grassy parcel on the east side of Hinge Park — the parcel at the southwest corner of the intersection of Athletes Way and Columbia Street, next to the seawall.

“Today’s announcement will deliver on promises made to families who make Olympic Village their home and provide students with a vibrant learning community for years to come. This much-needed funding will contribute to the well-being and success of students, while supporting our vision for a thriving educational system that supports families in their local communities throughout Vancouver,” said ABC School Board chair Victoria Jung.

Mayor Ken Sim added, “This new public elementary school site is poised to become the beating heart of the Olympic Village.”

In Spring 2025, two new elementary schools are expected to reach completion and open in Vancouver.

The brand new Coal Harbour elementary school is currently being built on the Coal Harbour seawall in downtown Vancouver, right next to the Coal Harbour community centre. The 11-storey building will incorporate the elementary school for up to 340 students in the lower three levels, a childcare facility for 64 kids on the fourth level, and 60 social housing units within the upper six levels.

The $71-million Coal Harbour elementary school will initially be used as a temporary replacement of Lord Roberts elementary school, which will be demolished for BC Hydro’s substation project at Nelson Park in the West End. After a new on-site replacement elementary school is completed at Nelson Park, Coal Harbour elementary school will become a net gain in capacity.

Additionally, the provincial government announced today that the current seismic replacement of Henry Hudson Elementary School in Kitsilano will be bolstered by a capacity expansion.

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