We repeat it again and again: the population growth of Lévis is breathtaking. In the last three years, the population has increased by more than 6,500 residents and has exceeded the 150,000 mark. At 4.5%, this is the fastest growth among major cities in Quebec.
Between 2020 and 2023, Lévis issued 3,000 building permits, four times more than the target set in 2015. Its neighbor Saint-Apollinaire is growing even faster.
But school construction on the south coast is not keeping pace.
The schools in the Navigateurs School Service Center are “more than overcrowded.” From east to west we are piling up as we wait for new buildings.
In the coming weeks, as the CSS informs the government of its needs, the Navigateurs Quebec CSS will ask for the budgets for the construction of three new elementary schools in Saint-Apollinaire, Saint-Nicolas and Saint-Henri.
The CSS will also demand two new secondary schools in Lévis and Saint-Apollinaire.
“We know we won’t just say yes,” agrees general manager Suzie Lucas. But it will be necessary. »
“We have a lot of excess capacity at the primary level and even more at the secondary level. »
— Suzie Lucas, General Manager of the Navigateurs School Service Center
The CSS is not the only one calling on the government to pick up the pace. Almost all service centers in Greater Quebec are urging the Ministry of Education to pick up the pace. But the situation in Lévis is “particularly critical”.
“Some CSS are calling for schools for the future. We ask what we needed yesterday. »
— Suzie Lucas, General Manager of the Navigateurs School Service Center
While Navigater’s CSS waits for its new schools, it will increase the number of modular classes, called “trailer classes.” After purchasing eight this year, the general director is already planning to purchase almost as many again for the next school year.
A suitable but temporary solution, explains Suzie Lucas. “We’re adding classes, but not common areas,” she explains. It certainly has an impact on the quality of life at school.”
A “race against time” that was lost in advance.
However, there have been a number of school projects on the south coast of Quebec in recent years. And the region is also represented by two ministers, including Bernard Drainville, who manages the important education department.
Expansion of the Grand-Voilier primary school in Saint-Nicolas in 2019 and 2022, expansion of the Ruisseau school in Lauzon by classes, which will be completed in the coming months, construction of the Étoile school in Saint-Nicolas. Nicolas, without forgetting the addition of numerous modular classes from one end of the territory to the other: Lévis and its surroundings “are not forgotten,” emphasizes Ms. Lucas.
“We have a good relationship with the minister, but we cannot pretend that we are favored because he is our deputy,” assures the director general of the CSS.
The Central Québec English School Board will also soon open its first school in Lévis. According to its president, Stephen Burke, it will be virtually full once it opens.
But despite these projects, the school network was never able to keep up with the pace of population growth.
Within 10 years, the number of primary school students at CSS des Navigateurs has increased by 18.2%. In secondary school the increase is staggering with 40% more students.
In Saint-Apollinaire, for example, we opened the Sentiers primary school in 2019. “On the day of the inauguration, we already had a request for an ongoing expansion,” explains Suzie Lucas. And when the new area opened, it was already full! »
The CSS is now applying to build a new primary school and a new secondary school in Saint-Apollinaire.
The “very rapid” development of large real estate projects in Lévis leads the general manager to fear that the problem will worsen in the coming years as Lévis becomes more and more dense. A few hundred meters from the Pointe-Lévy secondary school, where people are already overcrowded, the UMANO project promises 4,000 new doors in a neighborhood that we hope will be family-friendly.
The promoter of the UMANO project, Stephen Boutin, also believes that a school near the neighborhood he is developing, where he wants to attract young families, would be more than welcome. “We are not the ones who decide where to put the schools, but we still have space,” he emphasizes, knowing that Lévis is looking for land.
“We feel like the city feels like we do that things are moving quickly,” admits Ms. Lucas. The ministry approved a new elementary school near the real estate project a few months ago, but Lévis has not yet been able to designate land.
According to the law, she has two years to do so. Then the public tender process begins and then construction.
“We know she won’t be ready for a few more classes. »
— Suzie Lucas, General Manager of the Navigateurs School Service Center
Suzie Lucas argues for an upstream approach that forces us to work more closely with promoters. “If we are told about thousands of doors, we must definitely have a place planned for a new school,” she suggests. The city of Saint-Apollinaire does this well, emphasizes Ms. Lucas. The Navigater’s CSS has also “moved closer to the cities it serves” to stay abreast of new housing projects.
In order to accommodate as many students as possible in the overcrowded schools, the CSS des Navigateurs has made increased efforts to “expand from within” in recent years.
The Director General explains that certain courses have been moved to lecture halls, that vocational training has been “pushed out” of certain secondary schools, and that schools have been freed from administrative offices to accommodate teaching. “All existing rooms are occupied,” explains Ms. Lucas.
At Pointe-Lévy High School, for example, we paused the expansion of certain attractive programs such as the Arts Languages and Sports Program (PALS) to create more space for local students. Classes take place in the library and the teachers’ room has to be moved.
“But we can’t do anything more. We are at capacity and then some. »
— Suzie Lucas, General Manager of the Navigateurs School Service Center
Faced with an overly conservative calculation method used by the Ministry of Education, which only takes into account the aging of the current student population, those responsible for the CSS of the Navigateur have decided to commission the private company Trinor to draw up a portrait of the future needs of the area. A portrait that takes into account the very rapid growth of the environment. “We end up with numbers that are really different from those of the ministry […] The company even included a color in its range for us: black. »
Suzie Lucas believes that the Ministry of Education should engage with school service centers to plan their development over a ten-year period, rather than waiting for annual requests from the CSS.
Particularly where growth is rapid, such as the south coast of Quebec.
“We need to develop a long-term master plan and say, ‘This will happen in 10 years,’ rather than being at the mercy of every September 30th. [la date butoir pour que les CSS soumettent leurs demandes] », suggests the general director of the CSS de Navigateurs.
