Schools in Nanaimo: what to know before you move
Living inside a school's catchment area does not guarantee your child a seat in that school. British Columbia's School Act places a catchment child second in the enrolment order, behind children already attending, and the whole order applies only where the board decides space and facilities are available.
School District 68 Nanaimo Ladysmith enrolled 16,532 students in 2025/26, according to the Ministry of Education and Child Care, across 36 neighbourhood schools, a distributed learning school and the Career Technical Centre. Catchments are set by the board and can be redrawn: 80 to 100 Departure Bay students were moved to Frank J. Ney when Rutherford Elementary reopened in September 2025.
This page sets out what the enrolment rules actually say, what documents registration needs, the three grades at which French Immersion accepts new students, how busing works, and where every school is. School rankings are a separate subject and are not covered here.
How do school catchments work in Nanaimo?
Your address gives you priority, and priority is not a place. Section 74.1(6) of the School Act sets the order in which people are entitled to enrol at a given school, and it opens with a condition: this applies "if a board determines that space and facilities are available at the school". The order runs, in the Act's own words, a catchment area child who attended the school in the previous year, then a catchment area child, then a non-catchment area child living elsewhere in the district, then a child from outside the district.
Read that second position carefully. Living in the catchment puts you behind every child already enrolled, and the condition sits above all four tiers.
What is guaranteed is different and narrower. Section 74.1(2) says a board "must enrol all persons who exercise their entitlement to enrol", and section 2(1) attaches that entitlement to the school district, not to a named school. So School District 68 must find your child a place somewhere in the district. Section 75(4) then allows a board to "assign and reassign students to specific schools", which is what happens when a catchment school is full.
The district states the consequence itself. School District 68's registration page states that a student "will normally attend the school located in the catchment area in which their parents or caregivers reside unless there is no physical, resource or program space available", and then adds: "Currently, the above provision may need to be applied more frequently, potentially resulting in more students needing placement outside their catchment school." That page was last updated on 12 June 2026.
Siblings are a discretion, not a right. Section 74.1(6.1) lets a board give sibling priority and priority to children moving up from a feeder school, and where a board uses that discretion, section 74.1(6.2) requires it to "establish rules governing the exercise of its discretion" and make those rules public.
Where to check an address. School District 68 publishes three things: a School Locator that returns the catchment school for a street address, an interactive School Boundaries map that the district stamps as last updated May 2025, and a Family of Schools feeder list showing which elementary schools feed each secondary. The locator is the one that answers a specific property, and it is worth running on the address you are buying rather than the neighbourhood you are buying in.
Out-of-catchment requests run on a published annual cycle. School District 68 opens them in January, closes them on 31 March, and states that decisions are made by 30 April, adding "Please do not contact the district to check on your OOC status." A second review of all applications, including late ones, happens by 30 September. Approval depends on space and resources at the receiving school.
Boundaries move. Rutherford Elementary reopened on 2 September 2025 with 274 students registered against a district estimate of about 200, reported by NanaimoNewsNOW, and the reopening came with a redraw of north Nanaimo elementary catchments to take pressure off McGirr, Randerson Ridge, Frank J. Ney and Departure Bay. Departure Bay students in the Oakridge and Stephenson Point areas were moved to Frank J. Ney, which the district estimated would affect 80 to 100 students. Section 75.1(2) of the School Act allows a board to amend a catchment area, and attaches no consultation requirement to doing so.
How do you register a child moving from another province?
School District 68 asks for three things: a valid email address, a photo or scan showing proof of your child's age and citizenship, and a photo or scan showing proof of residency. The district adds that it reserves the right to request additional documents, and that an application is not complete until all supporting documentation has been submitted.
Registration for the following September opens in January or February, according to the Province of British Columbia. School District 68 opened its 2026/27 Early French Immersion window on 7 January 2026 and its secondary academy applications on the same date, which gives a sense of when the district's own calendar turns.
Arriving mid-year goes through Central Registration rather than the online kindergarten system, on 250-741-5264 or ereg@sd68.bc.ca.
On proof of address, the timing rule is in the legislation and it is more useful than it sounds. Section 74.1(9) of the School Act states that "a person's residency is determined as of the date the application to enrol is submitted to the board". Residency is fixed on the day you apply. Applying before your address changes anchors you to the old catchment, which is why a household moving within the district needs to think about the order of those two events.
Kindergarten is full day and available to every eligible five-year-old in British Columbia, per the Province.
How do BC grades compare to Alberta and Ontario?
British Columbia has one year of kindergarten and Ontario has two, so the labels move by one even though the ages match. Ontario runs Junior Kindergarten for children turning four and Senior Kindergarten for those turning five. A child finishing Ontario Senior Kindergarten enters Grade 1 in British Columbia. A child finishing Ontario Junior Kindergarten enters Kindergarten here.
The British Columbia cut-off is in the School Act, not in district policy. Section 3(1)(a) requires enrolment on the first school day of the year if the child "will have reached the age of 5 years" on or before 31 December of that school year. A child born on 31 December starts in the same September as a child born on 2 January of the same year.
Alberta expresses the same idea as an age test rather than a birth year: the Province of Alberta requires a kindergarten student to be at least four years and eight months old and no older than six on 1 September. The two rules line up closely, and grades 1 through 12 carry across directly.
Compulsory attendance differs at both ends. In British Columbia it runs from the September of the year a child turns five until age 16, under sections 3(1)(a) and 3(1)(b). In Ontario it runs from age six to 18 or graduation. British Columbia starts earlier and releases earlier.
On placement, there is no provincial rule for kindergarten through Grade 9 and no published School District 68 policy. The only authority is section 75(4) of the School Act, which lets a board assign students to schools and programs, so placement is a district decision made on age and continuity. For Grades 10 through 12 there is a published rule and it is generous: the Province states that courses taken outside British Columbia may receive equivalency credit where they closely match the content of a Grade 10, 11 or 12 course, and that "in general, students should be granted credit, through equivalency, for courses taken in other Canadian provinces and territories".
How does French Immersion entry work?
There are exactly three doors: Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 6. The Province's French Immersion policy sets Early French Immersion beginning in Kindergarten, occasionally Grade 1, and Late French Immersion beginning in Grade 6. There is no other entry point.
A family arriving with a child going into Grade 4 cannot enter French Immersion in School District 68. The same applies to Grades 2, 3, 5, and anything above Grade 6. This is worth knowing before you choose a house on the strength of an immersion school being nearby.
Places are allocated by lottery, not by address. School District 68 ran its 2026/27 Early French Immersion registration from 7 January to 31 January 2026, allocated places by lottery, and states that children with an older sibling continuing at the same school must register by the deadline for priority placement. Applicants who are not offered a place go on a waitlist and are automatically registered at their catchment school.
Four elementary schools offer it. École Hammond Bay, École Pauline Haarer and École Quarterway are single-track, meaning immersion is the only program in the building. École North Oyster in Ladysmith is dual-track and has offered immersion since the fall of 2014. École Quarterway is the only site in the district running both Early and Late French Immersion, which makes it the sole Grade 6 entry point.
The pathway continues at secondary in two places, and one of them stops early. École Secondaire Nanaimo District is dual-track and carries immersion through to graduation. Ladysmith Secondary offers it at Grades 8 and 9 only.
The Ministry of Education and Child Care counted 1,661 French Immersion students in School District 68 in 2025/26. The district's own page describes the program as approximately 1,500 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
Is there a French school in Nanaimo?
Yes, and it is not French Immersion. Nanaimo has two schools run by the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique, which is School District 93, a separate province-wide school district from School District 68.
The two programs exist for different children and this is the distinction people collapse. The Province describes French Immersion as a program "where instruction is offered in the French language for second language learners", with the goal of giving non-francophone students the opportunity to become bilingual. The Programme francophone is a first-language program, offered only by School District 93, and eligibility rests on section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms rather than on open enrolment. Immersion is open to any family that wins the lottery. The francophone program is not.
| School | Grades | Address |
|---|---|---|
| École Océane | K to 7 | 1951 Estevan Rd, Nanaimo V9S 3Y9 |
| École Secondaire de Nanaimo | 8 to 12 | 355 Wakesiah Ave, Nanaimo V9R 3K5 |
École Secondaire de Nanaimo is recorded at the same street address as Nanaimo District Secondary. Whether the two share a building or only an address is not something the Ministry file settles.
Is busing free in Nanaimo?
School District 68 publishes no fee for an eligible rider. Eligible means attending your catchment school and living beyond the walk limit, which the district sets at 4.0 km for Kindergarten to Grade 3 and 4.8 km for Grades 4 to 12. Students in Grades 1 to 12 may be asked to walk up to 3.2 km to the nearest stop. Registration is annual and the district asks for it before 1 July. The fleet is 29 buses on 20 routes covering roughly 650,000 km a year.
Choosing a school changes the arrangement. A student attending an out-of-catchment school, or a program of choice such as French Immersion or an academy, or living inside the walk limit, becomes a courtesy rider. Courtesy riders may be allowed to ride where space exists on an existing route, and School District 68 states that "routes will not be altered to service courtesy riders".
The cost of that same courtesy ride is not the same everywhere on the Island. School District 69 Qualicum, immediately north, charges courtesy riders 175 dollars for an application in April to 30 June, 225 dollars in July, and 275 dollars from 1 August, with fee relief available through a school principal. That figure is here because the difference is worth knowing if you are weighing Nanaimo against Parksville or Qualicum Beach, and because busing is discretionary in law: section 83(1)(a) of the School Act says a board "may assist in paying the cost of transportation", and section 82(3) permits a board to charge fees for goods and services.
A second address can be registered for custody arrangements or daycare, and School District 68 restricts it to those two reasons.
What schools are in Nanaimo?
Every neighbourhood school below is a School District 68 public school. Names, addresses and grades served come from the Ministry of Education and Child Care's K-12 School and District Contact Information file, checked on 26 August 2026. Grade ranges are the grades each school reports offering, which is why a few do not follow the usual Kindergarten to 7 and 8 to 12 split.
| School | Grades | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Bayview Elementary | K to 7 | 140 View St, Nanaimo V9R 4N6 |
| Brechin Elementary | K to 7 | 510 Millstone Ave, Nanaimo V9S 5A9 |
| Career Technical Centre | 12 | c/o Woodlands Secondary Room 109, Nanaimo V9S 2L9 |
| Cedar Elementary | K to 7 | 2215 Gould Rd W, Nanaimo V9X 1J9 |
| Cedar Secondary | 8 to 12 | 1640 MacMillan Rd, Nanaimo V9X 1L9 |
| Chase River Elementary | K to 7 | 1503 Cranberry Ave, Nanaimo V9R 6R7 |
| Cilaire Elementary | K to 7 | 25 Cilaire Dr, Nanaimo V9S 3C9 |
| Cinnabar Valley Elementary | K to 7 | 100 Ohio Way, Nanaimo V9X 1C8 |
| Departure Bay Elementary | K to 7 | 3004 Departure Bay Rd, Nanaimo V9T 1B4 |
| Dover Bay Secondary | 8 to 12 | 6135 McGirr Rd, Nanaimo V9V 1M1 |
| École Hammond Bay Elementary | K to 7 | 1025 Morningside Dr, Nanaimo V9T 1N5 |
| École Pauline Haarer Elementary | K to 7 | 400 Campbell St, Nanaimo V9R 3G7 |
| École Quarterway Elementary | K to 7 | 1632 Bowen Rd, Nanaimo V9S 1G6 |
| Fairview Elementary | K to 7 | 205 Howard Ave, Nanaimo V9R 3R3 |
| Forest Park Elementary | K to 7 | 2050 Latimer Rd, Nanaimo V9S 2W5 |
| Frank J. Ney Elementary | K to 7 | 5301 Williamson Rd, Nanaimo V9V 1L1 |
| Georgia Avenue Elementary | K to 7 | 625 Georgia Ave, Nanaimo V9R 3W3 |
| John Barsby Secondary | 8 to 12 | 550 Seventh St, Nanaimo V9R 3Z2 |
| McGirr Elementary | K to 7 | 6199 McGirr Rd, Nanaimo V9V 1C7 |
| Mountain View Elementary | K to 7 | 2480 Wellington Rd E, Nanaimo V9R 5K3 |
| Nanaimo District Secondary | 8 to 12 | 355 Wakesiah Ave, Nanaimo V9R 3K5 |
| Park Avenue Elementary | K to 7 | 395 Eighth St, Nanaimo V9R 1A9 |
| Pleasant Valley Elementary | K to 7 | 6201 Dunbar Rd, Nanaimo V9T 2P2 |
| Qwam Qwum Stuwixwulh Community School | K to 7 | 1390 Stuywut St, Nanaimo V9X 1M4 |
| Randerson Ridge Elementary | K to 7 | 6021 Nelson Rd, Nanaimo V9T 5N7 |
| Rock City Elementary | K to 7 | 3741 Departure Bay Rd, Nanaimo V9T 1C5 |
| Rutherford Elementary | K to 7 | 5840 Hammond Bay Rd, Nanaimo V9T 5N3 |
| syuwénct Elementary | K to 7 | 2280 Sun Valley Dr, Nanaimo V9T 6P1 |
| Uplands Park Elementary | K to 7 | 3821 Stronach Dr, Nanaimo V9T 3X4 |
| Wellington Secondary | 8 to 12 | 3135 Mexicana Rd, Nanaimo V9T 2W8 |
School District 68 extends past the city, and these six schools sit inside the same district and the same rules.
| School | Grades | Address |
|---|---|---|
| École North Oyster Elementary | K to 7 | 13470 Cedar Rd, Ladysmith V9G 1H6 |
| Gabriola Elementary | K to 7 | 680 North Rd, Gabriola Island V0R 1X0 |
| Ladysmith Intermediate | 4 to 7 | 317 French St, Ladysmith V9G 1B1 |
| Ladysmith Primary | K to 3 | 510 6th Avenue, Ladysmith V9G 1A6 |
| Ladysmith Secondary | 8 to 12 | 710 Sixth Ave, Ladysmith V9G 1A2 |
| Seaview Elementary | K to 7 | 7000 Lantzville School Rd, Lantzville V0R 2H0 |
Ladysmith is the one place in the district that splits the elementary years, running Ladysmith Primary for Kindergarten to Grade 3 and Ladysmith Intermediate for Grades 4 to 7. Everywhere else in School District 68 runs Kindergarten to Grade 7 and then 8 to 12.
Island ConnectED is the district's Kindergarten to Grade 12 online school, at 4355 Jingle Pot Rd, Nanaimo V9T 5P4.
What about special education designations from another province?
A designation from Alberta or Ontario does not carry into British Columbia by itself. The Individual Education Plan Order, Ministerial Order M638/95 as amended by M221/24 effective 1 July 2024, requires a board to ensure an Individual Education Plan is designed for a student with disabilities or diverse abilities "as soon as practical after the student is so identified by the board". The trigger is identification by the British Columbia board. The Order contains no reciprocity clause and names no other jurisdiction.
Funding follows a British Columbia assessment. The Province groups designations into three levels, running from Physically Dependent and Deafblind at Level 1, through Moderate to Profound Intellectual Disability, Physical Disability or Chronic Health Impairment, Visual Impairment, Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Autism Spectrum Disorder at Level 2, to Intensive Behaviour Interventions or Serious Mental Illness at Level 3. Supplemental funding requires assessment and identification against the criteria for the category, together with a current Individual Education Plan containing appropriate goals.
Not every student who needs support needs a plan. Section 2(2) of the Order exempts a student who needs only minor adaptations, whose learning outcomes have not been modified, and who needs 25 hours or less of remedial instruction in a school year from someone other than the classroom teacher.
Once a plan exists, the Order requires it to be reviewed at least once each school year, and requires the board to offer a parent the opportunity to be consulted on its preparation.
For scale, the Ministry of Education and Child Care recorded 1,822 School District 68 students with disabilities or diverse abilities in 2025/26, out of 16,532 enrolled, or about 11 per cent.
On school rankings. The Fraser Institute stopped publishing its report card on British Columbia secondary schools in September 2024, saying provincial testing changes had made the underlying data unreliable. Its elementary report card continues. Rankings and the assessment data behind them are a separate subject and are not covered on this page.
Common questions
Can kids go to kindergarten at 4 in BC?
Only if they turn five before the end of that calendar year. Section 3(1)(a) of the School Act ties entry to reaching the age of five on or before 31 December of the school year, so a child who turns five in November starts that September at age four. A child who turns five in January starts the following September.
Can you skip kindergarten in BC?
You can defer it by a year, and that is a right rather than a request. Section 3(2) of the School Act lets a parent defer enrolment until the first school day of the next school year. School District 68 asks parents who want to delay a five-year-old to meet with the principal of their catchment area school first.
What school district is Nanaimo in?
School District 68, Nanaimo Ladysmith. It covers Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Cedar, Lantzville and Gabriola Island, and enrolled 16,532 students in 2025/26 according to the Ministry of Education and Child Care. Nanaimo also has two schools run by School District 93, the province-wide francophone district.
What qualifies a child for an IEP in BC?
Identification by the school board, under Ministerial Order M638/95. A board must ensure a plan is designed as soon as practical after it identifies a student as having disabilities or diverse abilities. A student needing only minor adaptations, with unmodified learning outcomes and 25 hours or less of remedial instruction in a year from someone other than the classroom teacher, is exempt from the requirement.
Is an IEP a legal document in BC?
It is required by a Ministerial Order, which is made under the School Act. Ministerial Order M638/95 obliges a board to design a plan, to review it at least once each school year, and to offer a parent the opportunity to be consulted on its preparation. The Order sets what a plan must contain and when it is required, and exempts cases needing only minor adaptations.
Where to go next
- Nanaimo Neighbourhood Guide for how the city divides up, and which schools each area names.
- Best Areas in Nanaimo for Families for how the family neighbourhoods compare on price and daily routine.
- Moving to Nanaimo for the wider relocation picture.
- Health care on Vancouver Island for the other system a household has to join on arrival.
Sources. Every figure on this page was checked on 26 August 2026.
- Province of British Columbia, School Act, RSBC 1996 c.412, sections 2, 3, 74.1, 75, 75.1, 82 and 83. Checked 26 August 2026.
- Province of British Columbia, French Immersion Program policy, and the French Programs page. Checked 26 August 2026.
- Province of British Columbia, Full day Kindergarten and Support the Transition to Kindergarten. Checked 26 August 2026.
- Province of British Columbia, Equivalency credit for courses taken outside British Columbia. Checked 26 August 2026.
- Province of British Columbia, Individual Education Plan Order, Ministerial Order M638/95, and K-12 Funding, Inclusive Education. Checked 26 August 2026.
- Ministry of Education and Child Care, Education Analytics Office, BC K-12 School and District Contact Information and BC Schools Student Enrolment and FTE by Grade. Checked 26 August 2026.
- School District 68 Nanaimo Ladysmith, Registration Information, Catchment Information, French Immersion and Transportation. Checked 26 August 2026.
- School District 69 Qualicum, School Transportation, for the courtesy rider fees. Checked 26 August 2026.
- Province of Alberta, Early childhood education, for the Alberta kindergarten age rule. Checked 26 August 2026.
- Government of Ontario, Kindergarten, for the two-year Ontario structure. Checked 26 August 2026.
- NanaimoNewsNOW, Nanaimo's Rutherford school population far surpasses expectations, 29 August 2025, and SD68 moving ahead with boundary shifts for Rutherford re-opening, 12 September 2024. Checked 26 August 2026.
- Fraser Institute, B.C. government's changes to student testing deprive parents of high school rankings, 5 September 2024. Checked 26 August 2026.
Last updated 26 August 2026.