Proposed School Calendars 2026–2029
The Vancouver School Board invited families, students and community members to review the proposed three-year school calendars for 2026–2027, 2027–2028 and 2028–2029.
As required under the BC School Act, we held an open comment period from December 15, 2025 to January 16, 2026 at 4 p.m.. Families shared their comments to engage@vsb.bc.ca.
Staff will present a summary of the information received at the Education Planning Committee on February 4, 2026. Click here to watch it live. The Board will make a decision about the proposed school calendars at the public Board meeting on February 25, 2026.
How the proposed calendar dates were developed
School calendars must follow guidelines set by both the provincial and federal governments. This includes when statutory holidays occur, how many hours students need to be in school and how many professional development days staff receive. The District also works to align winter and spring breaks with other Metro Vancouver school districts so families have consistent schedules. These requirements guide most of the calendar decisions and as such, there is limited flexibility in major calendar changes.
Calendar planning is guided by:
- Requirements under the BC School Act, including minimum hours of instruction
- 853 hours for kindergarten, which allows for 25 hours of gradual entry
- 878 hours for grades 1 to 7
- 952 hours for grades 8 to 12
- Federal statutory holiday dates
- There are 11 statutory holidays + 2 optional holidays (Easter Monday and Boxing day)
- Ministry guidelines and collective agreement provisions for 1 non-instructional days and 5 professional development days
- Alignment with other Metro Vancouver school districts for winter and spring breaks
The proposed calendars were created with input from the District Calendar Advisory Committee which is made up of the Vancouver District Students’ Council, formal stakeholder groups, the Indigenous Education Department and staff. This year marks the first time the indigenous education department and the students’ council participated in the calendar advisory committee. The group met from October to November 2025 to review requirements and advise on any areas where adjustments were possible within the set parameters.