Last updated: July 28, 2020

Being in the right home for the right school

To see your home’s school catchment, please visit the School Locator, or talk to us – we’ve been helping our clients find their perfect home in Burnaby for a long time, so knowing the ins and outs of the education system here is a big part of that.

You can also use our map search tools to help find homes close to local schools. This tool is a great way to visualise where things are and what surrounds them. Create a free account to get started!

How do we know which schools are best?

What’s best can definitely be a subjective question: it really depends on what’s important to you as a parent as well as what your child’s aspirations might be. Read more to find how the Fraser Institute rates each high school in British Columbia, as well as their rankings of the Burnaby high schools. You’ll also see the different programs that the Burnaby School Board offers, and how your child can apply to these programs.

Every year the Fraser Institute rates each high school out of 10, and creates a ranking called The Report Card on British Columbia’s Secondary Schools. This ranking is released publicly and can be viewed here. The Report Card helps parents compare schools in BC and facilitates school improvement.

The Report Card critiques BC high schools based on the following seven academic indicators. Then, the indicators are combined to create a weighted average summary. To see how The Report Card is made, and for further details, please visit here.

1. The average exam mark in the Grade 12 language arts courses which include a mandatory provincial exam.
2. The percent of Grade 12 language arts mandatory provincial examinations that were failed.
3. The average difference between the school mark and the exam mark in the courses mentioned above in indicators 1 and 2.
4. The average difference between female and male students in their exam mark in the school’s most popular grade twelve language arts course.
5. The rate of graduation.
6. The delayed advancement rate.
7. Where there are no gender-gap results because they are either an only-boys or only-girls school, the school versus exam mentioned above in indicator 3 would be weighted higher. Where there is no delayed advancement rate, the graduation rate mentioned in indicator 6 would be weighted higher.

Here are the top Burnaby High Schools based off of The Report Card on British Columbia’s Secondary Schools (2016-2017 Rank)

1. St. Thomas More Collegiate
   Rank out of BC: 18/251
   https://stthomasmorecollegiate.ca/
   Catholic Private School
   Grades: 8-12
   7450 12th Ave
   Burnaby, BC V3N 2K1
   604-521-1801
   Registration Fee: $175.00
   Tuition for Canadian Residents (2019-2020): $6,950.00
   Grade Fees (Varying by Grade): $215-250
   Technology Fee: $150.00
   Grade 12 Graduation Fee: $250.00
2. Carver Christian High School
   Rank out of BC: 22/251
   http://carverchristian.org/
   Christian Private School
   Grades: 7-12
   7650 Sapperton Ave
   Burnaby, BC V3N 4E1
   604-523-1580
   Registration Fee: Please contact Carver Christian High School for more details.
3. Moscrop Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 87/251 (Tied with Burnaby Mountain)
   https://moscrop.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   4433 Moscrop St
   Burnaby, BC V5G 2G3
   604-664-8575
4. Burnaby Central Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 99/251
   https://central.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   4939 Canada Way
   Burnaby, BC V5G 1M1
   604-664-8542
5. Cariboo Hill Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 136/251
   https://cariboohill.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   8580 16th Ave
   Burnaby, BC V3N 1S6
   604-664-8568
6. Burnaby Mountain Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 143/251
   https://mountain.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   8800 Eastlake Dr
   Burnaby, BC V3J 7X5
   604-664-8552
7. Alpha Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 167/251
   https://alpha.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   4600 Parker St
   Burnaby, BC V5C 3E2
   604-664-8535
8. Burnaby North Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 189/251
   https://north.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   751 Hammarskjold Dr
   Burnaby, BC V5B 4A1
   604-664-8550
9. Burnaby South Secondary
   Rank out of BC: 218/251
   https://south.burnabyschools.ca/
   Public School
   5455 Rumble St
   Burnaby, BC V5J 2B7
   604-664-8560
10. Byrne Creek Secondary
    Rank out of BC: 226/251
    https://byrnecreek.burnabyschools.ca/
    Public School
    7777 18th St
    Burnaby, BC V3N 5E5
    604-664-8299

It’s important to note that Deer Lake School is another Christian private school in Burnaby that was not found on the 2017-2018’s Report Card, but was ranked 11/293 in 2010. For more information about this school please visit here.

French Immersion

The French Immersion program is a program that the Burnaby School Board offers that helps children to gain French as a second language.  Students graduating from the French Immersion program will receive a bilingual designation on their high school diploma; this may help enhance their employment and post-secondary learning opportunities. Please visit the Burnaby Board of Education’s website for more details.

One thing that’s important to note is that the French Immersion program starts in elementary school. More details about the French Immersion Program can be found here.

The following elementaries offer the Early French Immersion Program starting in kindergarten:

• Aubrey Elementary
• Brantford Elementary
• Inman Elementary (K to 3)/ Cascade Heights (4-7)
• Marlborough Elementary
• Seaforth Elementary
• Sperling Elementary
• Westridge Elementary

The following elementaries offer the Late French Immersion Program starting in Grade 6:

• Armstrong Elementary
• Capitol Hill Elementary
• Marlborough Elementary

Both the early and late programs enter the same Secondary Immersion program in Grade 8 in the following high schools:

• Cariboo Hill Secondary
• Moscrop Secondary
• Alpha Secondary

Burnaby School’s Career Education Program

A program that the Burnaby School District offers is the Career Education Program. This program allows students to build knowledge and skills in a variety of careers and trades programs. Depending on the program, some can lead towards post-secondary credits, industry certifications, apprenticeships, scholarship opportunities and/or the development of portfolios. The programs can help students with post-secondary applications and/or with employment. Further information can be found here.

For some of the trades programs, students can start their apprenticeship and participate in 480 hours of paid work. Students can start to earn qualifications towards becoming a journeyperson. For more information on the Youth Work in Trades program can be found here.

These are some of the options for the Career Education Program:

• Auto Collision Repair Technician
• Auto Refinishing Prep Technician
• Auto Service Technician
• Baker (Pastry Arts)
• Carpenter
• Cisco Networking Academy
• DigiPen Game Development Academy
• Film & Broadcast
• Construction Electrician
• Graphics/Media Arts
• Fitness Instructor
• Health Sciences
• Hair Stylist
• Metal Fabricator
• Tourism and Event Management
• Microsoft Office Specialist Certification
• Music Production and Technology
• Painter and Decorator
• Pipefitter
• Palo Alto Cyber Security Academy
• Professional Cook
• Plumber
• Robotics (Mechatronics)

We hope you find this useful, please reach out to us with any questions about Burnaby schooling, and buying and selling property here.

Vancouver Real Estate for June 2020 sees Increased Movement

June 2020 sees buyers and sellers more active in the real estate market for Vancouver. Home sales and listing activity return to typical historical levels. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported that residential sales in the region reached a total of 2,433 in June 2020. Comparing this to last June, this was an increase to June 2019’s 2,077 sales.

Vancouver buyers and sellers are becoming more comfortable moving forward on purchases and sales. This is a huge difference compared to the start of the COVID-19 restrictions. Compared to last month, the numbers of solds have increased from May 2020’s 1,485 homes sold.

June 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Sales-to Listings Ratio

In continuing with the increased sales as mentioned above, it goes without surprise that Vancouver’s overall state is in a seller’s market. For all property types the sales-to-active ratios for June 2020 is 21.4%. Some analysts say upward pressure on home prices can occur when the ratio goes above 20% for several months.

Detached homes had a ratio of 19.9%. Putting detached homes in a high balanced market. Townhomes had a ratio of 25.2%. While condos had a ratio of 21.3%. This means that June 2020 is a seller’s market for attached homes.

Vancouver West’s June 2020 Real Estate Market

Detached

There were a total of 487 active listings for Vancouver West in the month of June. Out of the 487 homes, 78 of them sold. The benchmark price for detached homes was $3,076,700. Detached homes on the Westside had a sales-to-active ratio of 16%. This shows that the detached Westside is in a balanced market. Homes took an average of 58 days to sell.

Condo

Meanwhile on the Westside condo market there were a total of 1,465 active condo listings for the month of June. A total of 282 homes sold. This means that the active-to-list ratio was 19.2%. Showing a high balanced market. The benchmark price for condos was $789,300. Overall condos took an average of 26 days to sell.

Vancouver East’s June 2020 Real Estate Market

Detached

When looking at the Vancouver Eastside real estate market for June 2020, detached homes are in a sellers market. There were a total of 443 active listings and 105 sales. Unlike on the Westside the active-to-sale ratio was 23.7%. Overall the average days on market for detached Eastside homes was 26 days. The benchmark price for detached homes was $1,459,100.

Condos

Similarly condos on the Eastside were also in a seller’s market. June saw a total of 442 active listings and 130 sales. Although condos were in a much higher seller’s market with a ratio of 29.4%. Also similar to the detached market, condos took 26 days to sell. The benchmark price for June was $588,400.

North Burnaby’s June 2020 Real Estate Market

Detached

Also the detached market for North Burnaby was in a seller’s market. This means there was a total of 31 sales and 112 active listings. Bringing the active-to-sold ratio to 27.7%. Overall homes on average took 24 days to sell. The benchmark price for June 2020 was $1,488,200.

Condos

Condos were also in a seller’s market with an active-to-sold ratio of 22.1%. Unlike the detached market homes took longer to sell with the average being 39 days. The condos benchmark price was $605,500. There were a total of 285 listings and 63 sales.

Burnaby South’s June 2020 Real Estate Market

Detached

Unlike Burnaby North, Burnaby South is in a balanced market. There were a total of 165 detached listings and 24 sales. The ratio for actives-to-solds was 14.5%. Homes on average took 32 days to sell. Although the benchmark price of homes was higher compared to Burnaby North. Burnaby South’s benchmark price was $1,559,300.

Condos

Condos in Burnaby South were also in a balanced market. June saw a total of 310 active listings and 57 sales. The days on market average was 35. Condos in South Burnaby also had a higher benchmark price of $670,500 when compared to Burnaby North.

For the June 2020 stats provided by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver click here.

And for last month’s market update click here.

Photo by Himanshu Chanan on Unsplash.