Five Year Capital Plan

Date came into force or revised

Issued May 4, 1994

Revised December 7, 2012

Status

Current

Policy statement

Boards of education may be required to prepare a Five-Year Capital Plan for their school districts.

Rationale or purpose of policy

The School Act (PDF) stipulates that a board must, when required by the minister, prepare and submit to the minister a capital plan. This policy identifies the procedures regarding five-year capital plan submissions.

Authority

• Section 142 (1) of the School Act (PDF): A board must, when required by the minister, prepare and submit to the minister a capital plan.

Policy in full

The five-year capital plan must be submitted to the Ministry of Education and Child Care on a date specified by the Capital Management Branch.

A board of education's five-year capital plan should reflect a strategy for balancing the supply of existing facilities against both current and projected enrolment demands.  This plan should also reflect the replacement or rejuvenation of existing facilities, including seismic upgrades and building envelope remediation.

The five year capital plan must be based on a comprehensive School district Facilities Plan (SDFP).  Such plans take into consideration education program requirements and trends; operating capacities and current condition of existing facilities; current and anticipated changes in land use; student yield rates; community demographics; local community and economic development strategies; and other long-term planning considerations.

The SDFP provides the rationale for specific projects that may be proposed as part of a board of education’s five-year capital plan.  The SDFP should outline concrete plans for a ten-year planning horizon with more general consideration for the longer term. The scope and emphasis of each SDFP will vary depending on the specific circumstances and priorities of each school district.

Five-year capital plans from school districts are used to develop the Ministry of Education and Child Care capital plan for consideration of Treasury Board for an upcoming capital budget year.

Funding consideration for a capital project involving new school space, the renovation of an existing school, or the replacement of an existing school will only be considered if a supporting Project Identification Report (PIR) is provided as part of a five-year capital plan submission.

The Ministry of Education and Child Care capital plan is developed on the basis of established ranking criteria for requested capital projects and anticipated future capital funding levels.

Procedures related to policy

Annually, the Capital Management Branch makes the Capital Plan Instructions (PDF) and Capital Plan Allowances, Rates and Costing Factors Supplement, available to all school districts. School districts must then submit their five-year capital plans and supporting documentation to the Capital Management Branch.

Once the Branch has received a school district's five-year capital plan and supporting documentation, a Planning Officer is responsible for the following:

• evaluating the completeness of the submission
• ensuring proposed projects are eligible for capital funding
• ensuring all required supporting documentation has been submitted for each capital project requiring Year One funding
• reviewing the Project Identification Report (PIR) submitted for each project determined by the board to be an immediate capital funding  priority for its school district
• ranking submitted projects in accordance with the current Ministry ranking criteria.

Individual capital projects will be reviewed to determine the ability to meet current and future needs including:

• new schools
• additions to existing schools
• replacement of existing schools
• renovations of existing schools

Where necessary, adjustments will be made by the Planning Officer in consultation with the school district to ensure projects comply with current Ministry unit rates for construction, area entitlements, and cost estimates for site development, municipal fees, consultant's fees, and equipment allowances.

An Echo Report providing the Ministry‘s ranking of submitted capital projects will be sent to the school district for its review and response.