The BC provincial government announced in a press release that it has approved a plan to rebuild Hazel Trembath Elementary School in Port Coquitlam, two years after the original building was destroyed by a fire.
The new school will be constructed on the same site at 1278 Confederation Drive and will be the first in the province to use a hybrid construction, with the majority of the building using prefabricated materials. According to the government, this approach will allow the school to open at least one full school year earlier than if built with traditional construction methods alone.
The rebuild is expected to cost approximately $39 million, with construction set to begin in July 2026 and occupancy planned for December 2027.
“Students in Port Coquitlam deserve to go to school close to home, and parents and families deserve the convenience that this brings,” said Mike Farnworth, MLA for Port Coquitlam, adding that the government is working urgently to provide a closer-to-home school for the students.
The new facility will include 240 seats, spread across two kindergarten classrooms and eight elementary classrooms. It will also feature energy-efficient systems, including a heat pump anticipated to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by about 50 percent, and parking equipped with electric-vehicle charging stations.
