Work is progressing on five public-private partnership (P3) high schools in Alberta, including one being built in the Rocky View School Division (RVS).

Construction got underway for the Langdon junior/senior high school on May 18th when site trailers began being set up and fencing installed at the site.

According to the Alberta government, the five school projects are supporting about 1,700 construction-related jobs and, even more importantly, saving taxpayers an estimated $100 million by being constructed using the P3 approach.

“This P3 schools project demonstrates the Alberta government’s commitment to attracting private sector investment to the province,” says Alberta’s Minister of Infrastructure Prasad Panda. “We’re saving Alberta taxpayers millions of dollars, providing hundreds of good-paying jobs in local communities and ensuring thousands of Alberta high school students have top-quality schools in which to learn and grow.”

The five new Alberta high schools being delivered by P3 are expected to open in September 2024 and will accommodate about 7,000 students.

Construction began on the Edmonton public high school in September 2021 while it got underway on the Edmonton Catholic high school in early May. Construction on a Leduc high school also started in May while construction of the new high school for Blackfalds is expected to begin in June.

The government announced funding for the design of the high school in Langdon in November 2019 then followed that up with confirmation of funding for construction in May 2020. In September 2021, following a competitive procurement process, the Alberta government finalized the P3 contract for the delivery of these five high schools with Concert-Bird Partners who had the lowest bid price at $300.3 million. That price saves taxpayers about $114.5 million compared to the government’s cost of $414.8 million for doing the work using traditional delivery methods.

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