Building & Modernizing Schools

School Maintenance & Renewal (M&R) is conducted through a combination of Capital Maintenance and Renewal (CMR) and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) funding.

The provincial government provides the CMR grant based on a formula basis and it follows the Government of Alberta fiscal year (April 1 to March 31). CMR funds are project specific for the purpose of investing in the repair and replacement of major facility components.

The provincial School Capital Manual outlines that school jurisdictions must use CMR funding to:

• ensure school facilities meet all regulatory requirements, particularly as they pertain to providing a safe and healthy learning environment;
  
• preserve and improve the quality of the learning environment by:
• replacing building components that have failed;
• prolonging the life of the school facility through planned, proactive replacement of major components; and
• upgrading of the educational areas to meet programming requirements.
• meet the facility requirements of students with special needs; and
• replace or upgrade building components to improve energy conservation and efficiency and to achieve cost savings as a result.

CMR funds must be capitalized and cannot be expensed. The funding CANNOT be used for major capital projects, including the addition of permanent or modular school spaces.

O&M funds must be expensed which limits the types of projects that can be completed with this funding source.​

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