Jan 26, 2026

On December 19, 2025, following a vote by a majority of the VSB Trustees, Carleton Elementary was closed as a school for enrolling students.

The community’s needs have not gone away. Our work is not done. The decision by the Vancouver School Board to close Carleton does not change the fact that we need Carleton.

Joyce-Collingwood is one of the fastest growing Transit Oriented Development Areas in the entire Province of British Columbia.

There will be many new developments that will be coming to Joyce-Collingwood Station in the next few years.

We need housing, but we also need to plan for this growth in our community. The promises of public benefits made to this community like a new library, childcare and more public space under the Joyce-Collingwood Precinct Plan have been broken. Carleton is not a surplus site for Joyce–Collingwood.

Sign and Share: Petition & Letter Campaign – Now On !

2440 Petitions signed so far, and more coming.

A heartfelt thank you. #SaveCarleton.

Timeline

2005 → Seismic upgrades announced
2010 → Closure proposed
2016 → Closure proposed again; fire damage
2019 → Seismic funding approved; Project Definition Report prepared
2021 → Upgrades deferred by the VSB
2022 → Subdivision application filed by the VSB with the CIty
2023 → Closure paused pending density legislation
2025 (Oct–Nov) → Parents request capital funding and updated business case
2025 (Dec 19) → School closed by VSB Trustees;

We Need Carleton

✅ The number of children living in Joyce–Collingwood is increasing.

In the next 8 years, we will have about 1,000 more children in Joyce-Collingwood (see the “Carleton Report” with all the data – click here).

Youth population includes all children living in the area, not just those currently enrolled in VSB schools. Every child deserves the opportunity to access a neighbourhood public school.

✅ Carleton has had no enrolled students since the 2016 fire, because repairs were never made.

A lack of enrolment caused by displacement does not mean lack of educational need. The VSB could have sought repair funding through annual facilities grants to repair and reopen the school.

Before the fire, Carleton functioned as a vital community hub and provided child care, flexible intake capacity, food programs, homework clubs, Chinese school, and walkable public education. Those needs remain and will grow in the future for this area.

✅ The catchment for Carleton was re-drawn without full consultation with the community.

On January 30, 2023, the VSB re-drew Carleton’s catchment with extremely limited engagement (29 focus group participants, 12 survey responses). This administrative change did not reduce the number of families living in the area and made access harder for many.

At present, many families living in the former Carleton catchment are traveling to schools like Renfrew and Beaconsfield because they can’t get into a school near to them. Other families are not able to get both their children in the same school. Some families are leaving the public school system all together and making the difficult decision to enroll the local private school in order to keep their children together at a school. The need for Carleton has not gone away. The VSB’s data to close Carleton does not assess the local impact that the closing of Carleton has had on people living at Joyce-Collingwood.

The VSB’s report closing Carleton failed to interview families in this area, including those living at Synala co-op, indigenous housing, which is steps away from Carleton.

✅ The VSB relied exclusively on enrolment projections, not full youth population data showing future growth in Joyce–Collingwood.

The projections exclude:

• Children who left public schools due to lack of access
• Students in private or independent schools
• Homeschooled students
• Families unable to enrol after Carleton was displaced

The VSB’s own Baragar methodology assumes capacity for only 86% of students, meaning many local children are never counted in planning assumptions used to justify closure (link to report).

✅ Carleton is not surplus to the needs of the Joyce-Collingwood community.

“Surplus” means land is permanently not needed for education. Carleton is closed due to unresolved seismic and structural issues, and the redrawing of its catchment boundaries, not because it lacks long-term educational value.

✅ Carleton is needed now and in the future for students.

Joyce–Collingwood is one of BC’s fastest-growing Transit-Oriented Areas. Six towers over 30 storeys and many mid-rise developments are planned near Joyce Station.

• Over 3,100 housing units are approved or under review
• The Precinct Plan projected 2,300 households over 25 years, exceeded in just 9 years
• The number of towers has more than doubled

At present, at nearby schools:

• Bruce Elementary and Collingwood Annex are at or near capacity
• Grenfell Elementary will be full after seismic upgrades
• Capacity at MacCorkindale and Cunningham is outside the Transit-Oriented Area.

✅ VSB reports do not meaningfully reference growth around Joyce Station, despite provincial and municipal policies requiring planning for density near transit hubs.

The VSB conducted Joyce Station studies but did not release them during public engagement.

✅ The Vancouver Plan identifies Joyce–Collingwood as an equity-seeking, underserved area.

The Vancouver Plan identifies Joyce–Collingwood as an equity-seeking, underserved area. Its complete-neighbourhood framework supports using sites like Carleton to deliver schools, child care, and community amenities close to transit and homes.

✅ The planning committments under the Joyce–Collingwood Station Precinct Plan cannot be delivered without Carleton.

The Precinct Plan promised a library, child care, and community space. Carleton is the only remaining site large enough to deliver these public benefits. Without it, there may be no viable land left to meet those commitments. Rising construction costs and accelerating development put these benefits at risk.

Recent rezonings approved more than triple the originally planned density, without resizing schools or amenities.

Site acquisition is usually the hardest part of planning amenities. In the case of Carleton, a suitable public site already exists, and the City has collected development cost levies intended for community benefit.

✅ The rights of francophone families should be accomodated in a comprehensive plan to settle claims, not by a piecemeal approach.

Francophone students are entitled to sufficient space. Courts require school boards to reasonably and proportionately balanceminority-language rights with neighbourhood growth.

A proper s. 23 assessment requires an updated Long-Range Facilities Plan. Carleton was closed without one.

✅ The VSB needs to coordinate with the City and plan for growth.

Under the Vancouver Charter, the City must work with the VSB on actual and anticipated school needs and how school sites relate to community facilities. With growth accelerating, Carleton is part of future infrastructure planning.

SUMMARY

Closing Carleton reduces access to public education, child care, and community space while density and population continue to rise. Joyce–Collingwood needs Carleton, now and for the future.