New Brant Catholic high school opening delayed

Hamilton Spectator

23-05-2025

It will be a couple of years before
a new statue of St. Padre Pio
has a home at its namesake school.
The opening of
the new Catholic secondary school and child-care centre
in the north end of Brantford has been bumped a year, from September 2026 to the 2027-28 school year, the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board announced on its website last week.
The board simultaneously gave notice of three boundary reviews affecting all elementary schools in Brantford and the County of Brant, and all secondary schools across the board.
The board needs to decide on feeder schools for St. Padre Pio, and two new elementary schools will be going up in Paris and West Brant, so the board decided to 'connect the processes,' spokesperson Tracey Austin told The Spectator.
The province gave the green light for the new $45.7-million high school in 2022. It bumped funding up to $50.7 million in 2024.
The state-of-the-art building will have 1,257 student spaces, and YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford was selected to operate 128 child-care spots on site.
But while construction equipment could previously be seen on the 17-acre site at Powerline Road, last week it sat barren.
'We knew that the 2026 opening date was ambitious and the project is simply not progressing on a schedule that will enable us to meet the timeline,' Austin said.
The board wanted to give the community 'as much advance notice as possible,' she added.
She confirmed the delay has no correlation to
the recent ministerial governance review
, prompted by four trustees travelling to Italy to purchase $72,000 of art for the new schools.
The land was previously zoned for agricultural uses, and a sanitary sewer and water main infrastructure were going to be 'the greatest challenge' in the expedited timeline, according to a City of Brantford planning update from 2023.
When the build has 'progressed to the point where we are able to establish a firm opening date,' the board will let staff, families and the community know, Austin said.
A sanitary sewer and water main infrastructure is needed to transform the former agricultural lands into a high school.
Students hadn't enrolled yet, but nearby Catholic secondary schools like Assumption College School are facing capacity issues.
As of the 2023-24 school year, it had 1,829 students — almost 800 beyond the school's capacity of 1,032.
And if elementary enrolment is any indication, numbers will continue to climb.
The board reported a 16 per cent increase in elementary students between 2021-22 and 2023-24. It projects a further 32 per cent influx between this year and 2034-35, according to a presentation the accommodations committee saw in April.
The review process will include public meetings. It's set to begin in June and could last around a year, Austin said.
In the meantime, the board will 'work closely with the Ministry of Education and community partners, including child-care centres' to 'continue to provide new and innovative learning spaces that serve our growing Catholic education community,' board chair Carol Luciani said.