Britannia Secondary's hockey academy pauses as low enrolment and teacher reassignment loom

Parents, students, and at least one Vancouver School Board trustee say pausing Britannia Secondary School's Hockey Academy in September could be a step toward the school's closure.

The hockey academy is a district-wide, low-barrier program that will not operate next school year, the school district announced. Parents, students, and trustee Suzie Mah said the suspension will kill the program and threaten the school's future. Britannia was on a potential closure list in 2016; the school, with room for more than 1,000 students, had just 589 students in the 2024-25 school year.

The inner-city school on Vancouver's east side is part of a community centre complex that provides family supports and low-cost public access to amenities including an ice arena, rink, pool, gym, and library. It has maintained a strong relationship with the urban Indigenous community, with almost one-third of students Indigenous. Several students enrolled in the Britannia Hockey Academy are Indigenous, as is coach Jamie Smith.

According to the school, the program's suspension stems from low enrolment—only 11 students enrolled for next year, with two or three having timetable issues that would prevent full participation—and a cut from three physical education teachers to two based on enrolment. The teacher being reassigned to another school is the team's coach. But parents and students say scheduling issues are not uncommon at the academy, which has operated for nearly 20 years. In previous years, the program enrolled around 20 students; when Jamie Smith became coach in 2017, there were only 12 to 13.

Mah, a COPE school trustee, said the hockey program could have been saved. "It doesn't have to be this way," she said. "A district program can draw from different schools, and if the school board marketed it, if there was a push to get more enrolment, it would survive."