French school to open in Halifax after plans fall through for Saint John location

Initial plans were for the LIFPA Don Bosco school to be located in Market Square in Saint John, N.B. (Source: Avery MacRae/CTV News Atlantic)

A French private school that recently backed out of plans to open in Saint John’s Market Square — citing constructions costs that were 50 per cent higher than originally budgeted for — has found a different spot outside New Brunswick.

Lycée International Français des Provinces Atlantiques (LIFPA) has announced they will be opening their all French school in Halifax this September within the Bayers Road Centre. The school will be the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada.

LIFPA officials say plans were always in motion to open a school in Halifax in 2025, but they were accelerated after the Saint John project failed to come together. Construction work is expected to begin shortly in order to be finished by the fall.

The school is open to both domestic and internal students from kindergarten to Grade 12. Registration is available online with seats to be limited for the inaugural school year.

Saint John’s Deputy Mayor John MacKenzie admits the news took him off guard with it coming a week after he learned his city wouldn’t be getting the all French program.

“That’s surprising, y’know, because there was no indication of that whatsoever, and the reason used to not set up in Saint John was construction costs,” says MacKenzie. “Well, I don’t think it will be any different in Halifax and I think there is more to this story than meets the eye.”

There were some in the area who were always skeptical of the idea of an all French school coming to Saint John, but MacKenzie wasn’t one of them.

“We did, and everyone was excited about it,” Mackenzie said when asked if he believed the school was actually coming to Market Square. “They have nine in Canada and they’ve got a good track record and everything so there was no reason for us to believe that it wasn’t going to happen, and for this to fall through and everything well, like I said there is more to this story then we know right now.”

MacKenzie says the city has already turned its focus to securing the next big project for the area.

LIFPA says it hasn’t given up on bringing a school to the nation’s only bilingual province, but if it is to happen, it likely won’t be for a few years.

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