Canmore Schools

Canmore schools are one of the town’s quiet strengths, and one of the reasons a family with a Calgary income and a remote-work arrangement chooses to raise children here rather than in a suburb. There are four school buildings for a permanent population of about 17,000: three public schools that form a single K–12 pathway, a Waldorf-inspired K–6 programme housed inside the high school, and one Catholic academy that covers all grades in one building. French immersion runs from kindergarten to grade 10. What the town does not have is an independent private school, and what it has too little of is childcare. This guide lays out the schools, their programs and locations, and what to check before you tie a home purchase to a catchment.

Canmore schools at a glance

Sources: CRPS division and school pages; Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools. Enrolment figures are as published on the school sites in August 2026.

The public pathway: Elizabeth Rummel, Lawrence Grassi, Canmore Collegiate

Canadian Rockies Public Schools (CRPS) is the public division for Canmore, Banff and Exshaw. In Canmore it runs one school per stage, which keeps things simple: every public-school child in town moves from Elizabeth Rummel to Lawrence Grassi to Canmore Collegiate with the same cohort.

Elizabeth Rummel School serves kindergarten to grade 4 in the Cougar Creek neighbourhood, with about 335 students in 16 classes and both full-day and half-day kindergarten (ERS). It runs English and French immersion streams side by side. Hours are 8:25 a.m. To 3:06 p.m., with half-day Fridays. A detail that matters for working parents and is easy to miss.

Lawrence Grassi Middle School covers grades 5–8 from 610 7 Avenue in the town centre, walkable from Lions Park, downtown and Teepee Town (LGMS). It continues French immersion and adds Career and Technology Foundations courses.

Canmore Collegiate High School at 1800 8 Avenue is the grade 9–12 school, with about 600 students and a program list that reads like the town: French immersion, outdoor education, the Wilderness Experience and WILD programs, fine arts including drama and music, work experience and dual-credit courses through its career-exploration program (CCHS). The division also runs the Canadian Rockies Outdoor Learning Centre in Bow Valley Provincial Park as a regional program.

Alpenglow School is the exception to the one-school-per-stage rule. It is a Waldorf-inspired, nature-based kindergarten-to-grade-6 programme, founded by a community society in 2012 and now run by CRPS, housed inside the Collegiate at 1800 8 Avenue. Classes run full days Monday to Thursday and finish late morning on Friday, with a half-day ECS option for the youngest children. It is publicly funded, so there is no tuition, but it is a separate registration from Elizabeth Rummel.

French immersion in Canmore

CRPS offers a continuous French immersion pathway from kindergarten to grade 10. Entry is at kindergarten or grade 1 at Elizabeth Rummel, in full-day or half-day form; students continue at Lawrence Grassi for grades 5–8 and Canmore Collegiate for grades 9–10. The language split shifts by stage: all subjects in French in K–2, 80% French in grade 3, 70% in grades 4–6, core subjects: French language arts, mathematics, science, social studies: in French in grades 7–9, and French language arts only in grade 10, with the DELF diploma from France’s Ministry of Education available at the end of high school (CRPS).

Two things to check if immersion matters to you. Entry after grade 1 is by assessment and space, so a family arriving with a grade 3 child from an Ontario immersion program should contact the school before buying. And the program narrows at the top: by grade 11 and 12 the immersion stream is a single course, not a full programme.

Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy

The Catholic option is Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy, a single kindergarten-to-grade-12 school operated by Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools, the division that also serves Okotoks, High River, Strathmore, Drumheller and Brooks (CTR). A one-building K–12 is unusual and has real advantages: siblings in one place, no transitions, small cohorts, and the obvious trade-off of a small senior high. Non-Catholic families are welcome to apply. The division’s administrative procedure on the admission of non-Catholic students says it accepts Catholic students, students of other Christian denominations, students of other faiths and students with no religious affiliation, provided the family respects and accepts the Catholic character of the school. Admission is conditional: the principal reviews the student’s records for suitability, and places go to resident students first if space, staffing and programming are tight.

Outdoor and specialist programs

This is where Canmore’s schools differ from a suburb’s. Canmore Collegiate’s outdoor education, Wilderness Experience and WILD programs use the valley as a classroom, and the division’s Canadian Rockies Outdoor Learning Centre delivers outdoor and environmental programs across its schools. The division’s international student program markets a ski academy and the WILD program as optional courses (CRPS), though the division publishes the ski academy only within that program, so ask the Collegiate directly whether a local student can take it and how the timetable works. Competitive skiers, biathletes and climbers train through clubs at the Canmore Nordic Centre and the local climbing gym, and the schools have long experience accommodating athletes’ schedules.

Private schools, preschool and childcare

There is no accredited independent K–12 school in Canmore. Alberta’s independent-school system covers roughly 230 schools under about 160 authorities, and none of them is in the Bow Valley; the Waldorf-inspired Alpenglow programme that began as a community society is now run inside Canadian Rockies Public Schools, so it is public. Families who want a private school look to Calgary, which makes the daily commute impractical for a child, or choose Canmore precisely because the public offer is strong.

Childcare is the harder problem. The fee is settled: Alberta moved to a flat $15 a day on 1 April 2025, $326.25 a month for full-time care and $230 for part-time at any licensed daycare or day home receiving the affordability grant, with the province saying it intends to reach $10 a day (alberta.ca). Space is not. Alberta names Canmore and Banff among its high-waitlist communities, waits run months, no live space count is published, and many families rely on day homes or nannies until kindergarten. If you are moving with a child under five, get on waitlists before you have an address; the moving checklist puts it at the two-to-three-month mark.

What to check before you choose a home

1. 1Call the school, not just the divisionAsk about space in the specific grade and stream, the immersion entry assessment if your child is past grade 1, and start dates. Schools answer these questions readily and the answers change year to year.
2. 2Walk the route in winterA 1.5 km walk to Elizabeth Rummel is pleasant in September and a different proposition at −20°C in January with 15 cm of fresh snow. Check sidewalks, the pathway network and the free Roam bus routes.
3. 3Confirm the Friday and kindergarten scheduleElizabeth Rummel’s half-day Fridays and the choice of half- or full-day kindergarten shape a working family’s week. Plan childcare around them.
4. 4Match the house to the years aheadA family with a toddler will be at Elizabeth Rummel for five years, Lawrence Grassi for four and Canmore Collegiate for four. Pick the neighbourhood for the longest stretch, not the first year.

What this means if you’re buying

If schools are the reason you are moving, Canmore makes the decision easy and the geography simple: one pathway, one Catholic alternative, and a French immersion stream that runs the length of it. Choose the neighbourhood for the walk, the sun and the commute, get childcare and immersion entry sorted before you close, and read the best neighbourhoods for families post and the homes for sale page for what the family ladder looks like in each area.