Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal and B.C. governments are pledging $100 million each to build a new high school in Tumbler Ridge and modernize the community’s health care centre.
B.C. Premier David Eby promised last month that students wouldn’t have to return to the school, which was the site of a mass shooting in February.
The prime minister says he and the premier were in Tumbler Ridge after the murders of eight people and heard from students, parents, teachers and first responders.
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
“We talked about what could be done to begin to heal from that trauma, that loss, unspeakable tragedy. The premier and I, among other things, we promised that we would be there for the community as they rebuild,” Carney says.
The prime minister says work on the new school will start this summer, beginning with the removal of the existing school.
Police have said Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and brother before going to the school on Feb. 10, killing five students and an educational assistant before killing herself.
Carney made the announcement in Vancouver as part of what he calls a “landmark new agreement” between the two governments on infrastructure that will increase the housing supply by converting unsold new condos into affordable housing, reduce fees for developers and invest in hospitals, transit systems and community centres.
“Under this agreement, development charges on multi-unit housing projects across British Columbia will be reduced by up to 50 per cent for three years,” he says.
Through the Build Communities Strong Fund, the federal government will invest $1.6 billion in community infrastructure over the next decade and B.C. will match those funds.
More coming…
© 2026 The Canadian Press