Radio-canada Info: New Brunswick turns to taller school design for Saint-Henri
radio-canada info is at the center of a new school plan in Moncton, where the provincial government says it will replace Saint-Henri on the current site instead of moving the project to the city’s edge. The decision aims to keep the school close to students in a neighborhood near Moncton Hospital, where space is tight and the building is already overcrowded. Education Minister Claire Johnson says the province will favor a design that rises more than it stretches out.
New build planned on the existing site
The new Saint-Henri school will be built on the present grounds over the next few years, with students staying in the current building during construction. Johnson said the project is intended to avoid the disruption and added complexity of a different location, while keeping the infrastructure in the heart of the community. She placed the cost at 50 million dollars and said the school is expected to be completed around 2031.
Officials say the current building, which opened in the 1960s and dates from 1965, is too small for present demand. It was designed for 350 students, but enrollment reached 497 in October 2025, a 58% increase in four years. The school has also had to use mobile classrooms and close its cafeteria, signs of pressure that have pushed the government to choose a replacement rather than a renovation.
radio-canada info and the case for building up
Johnson said the province wants to “favor a school that is more vertical than long, ” while noting that the plans have not yet been drawn and the number of floors is still unknown. She added that this approach may be considered in other urban areas where vacant land is scarce, saying the Saint-Henri project could serve as an example for other regions in New Brunswick. In that sense, radio-canada info shows a broader shift in how the province may think about school construction in dense city neighborhoods.
Reactions from the district and the school
Monique Boudreau, director general of the District scolaire francophone Sud, welcomed the minister’s openness to taller school buildings when space is limited. Michel Côté, president of the district’s education council, said the organization has been asking for more space at Saint-Henri since 2016 and had already anticipated student growth that has since accelerated. He said the announcement is good news, but warned that pressure may move to other schools as Saint-Henri students advance.
Sophie LeBlanc, the school’s principal, said the situation has not affected learning or student safety, but she described the day-to-day reality as cramped. She pointed to split classes and a lack of rooms for learning support staff as evidence that the building is under strain.
What happens next
The next phase will depend on the design work now ahead, including how the taller structure will fit on the limited site. The province has not given a floor count, and the final layout remains to be determined. For now, the main message is clear: radio-canada info signals a new direction in Moncton, with Saint-Henri set to become the test case for a school built upward in a crowded urban setting.
