Photo: Shawn from Airdrie, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Smithers’s teenagers travel 55 km to the nearest high school
The town’s own schools, within 3 km, are 7 elementary schools and 3 alternative or adult schools. On results, 4 of its 6 tested schools sit in the top two fifths in British Columbia.
What stands out about Smithers’s schools
Independent schools
Outside the public boards: Bulkley Valley Christian Online School, Bulkley Valley Christian School and St Joseph's, 4 of 10, where in British Columbia the share is 18%. Who runs them ↓
The strongest results
Ebenezer Canadian Reformed School (elementary) posts the area’s strongest results: the top fifth in British Columbia. Results ↓
Every figure here sets the area’s schools beside the rest of its province.
High schools within reach of Smithers
Every secondary school within 15 km of the town, nearest first.
No secondary school is within 15 km of the town.
How Smithers’s schools do on BC’s assessments
The Foundation Skills Assessment in Grades 4 and 7 and first-time graduation: each school against every school in BC.
Its School Grade is A−: it compares these results with the other towns of the province.
The area’s schools by fifth of the province
Each school’s band is the average of its measures’ fifths. The mark shows an even fifth of the area’s schools.
| Measure | Schools | Middle here | British Columbia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 4 literacy (FSA score) | 5 | 500 | 468 |
| Grade 4 numeracy (FSA score) | 5 | 493 | 472 |
| Grade 7 literacy (FSA score) | 5 | 508 | 467 |
| Grade 7 numeracy (FSA score) | 5 | 458 | 454 |
| First-time Grade 12 graduation | 3 | 95% | 91% |
On Grade 7 literacy the area runs ahead, 508 against 467 in British Columbia. Of 5 measures, 4 sit above the province’s middle and 0 below.
Every school’s results (6)
| School | Measure | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Ebenezer Canadian Reformed SchoolElementary | G4 literacy 520 · G4 numeracy 493 · G7 literacy 500 · G7 numeracy 523 · Graduation 100% | Top fifth |
| St Joseph'sElementary | G4 literacy 500 · G4 numeracy 558 · G7 literacy 546 · G7 numeracy 493 | Second fifth |
| Muheim Memorial ElementaryElementary | G4 literacy 508 · G4 numeracy 551 · G7 literacy 508 · G7 numeracy 448 | Second fifth |
| Smithers SecondaryElementary | Graduation 95% | Second fifth |
| Bulkley Valley Christian SchoolElementary | G4 literacy 464 · G4 numeracy 490 · G7 literacy 534 · G7 numeracy 458 · Graduation 80% | Middle fifth |
| Walnut Park ElementaryElementary | G4 literacy 384 · G4 numeracy 359 · G7 literacy 352 · G7 numeracy 321 | Bottom fifth |
BC Ministry of Education and Child Care: FSA 2021/22 to 2025/26 (the latest year with a value) and first-time Grade 12 graduation; masked where groups are small; resident students only. Open Government Licence – British Columbia.
Where the 10 schools in and around Smithers are
Each pin is a school, coloured by the system that runs it, sized by its students where the province publishes them.
Points from the provincial lists.
Schooling in English and French around Smithers
The language each school teaches in, against every school in British Columbia.
The mark on each bar is the share of schools in British Columbia.
1 of them teach in French: La Grande-Ourse; the public ones belong to SD 93 Conseil scolaire francophone.
Section 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives French-speaking parents the right to French-language schooling for their children, through the French-language boards.
Who runs Smithers’s schools
Each level’s schools by system: English and French public boards, independent and other schools.
By system, they split: English public 5, French-language 1 and independent 4.
The provincial school lists: each school’s board, language and Catholic or public status.
The 2 boards that run schools here
Each board’s schools in the area, largest first.
SD 54 Bulkley Valley counts 5, more than any of the other boards of the 2.
| Board | System | Schools |
|---|---|---|
| SD 54 Bulkley ValleyBulkley Valley Education Connection, Bulkley Valley Learning Centre, Muheim Memorial, Smithers Secondary, Walnut Park | English public | 5 |
| SD 93 Conseil scolaire francophoneLa Grande-Ourse | French public | 1 |
Boards and districts as the provincial lists name them.
How children get a place in Smithers
The neighbourhood school
Children go to the board’s designated school for their address, unless another school agrees to take them.
French-language schools
The French boards take rights-holders’ children by right and others by committee.
Independent schools
Independent schools here charge fees but receive some provincial funding if they meet its standards.
The provinces’ education acts and the boards’ own admission policies; check with the board for a given address.
The 10 schools in and around Smithers
Alternative, adult and other schools around Smithers
Also within reach: online learning through Bulkley Valley Christian Online School and Bulkley Valley Education Connection; alternative programs at Bulkley Valley Learning Centre. Their cards ↑
The kinds as the provincial lists give them (alternative, adult and continuing education, online, provincial schools).
Towns its size in British Columbia
Towns of a similar population, with their schools in or within 3 km; described, not ranked.
| Town | Population | Schools | French | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Slope | 8,989 | 61 | 1 | 1.3 km |
| … | ||||
| Electoral Area B, Peace River | 5,814 | 6 | 0 | 25 km |
| Duncan | 5,745 | 16 | 1 | 1.1 km |
| Osoyoos | 5,724 | 2 | 0 | 0.9 km |
| Armstrong | 5,643 | 4 | 0 | 1.1 km |
| Smithers | 5,627 | 10 | 1 | 55 km |
| Juan de Fuca (Part 1) | 5,439 | 42 | 2 | 6.4 km |
| Electoral Area H, Central Kootenay | 5,390 | 8 | 0 | 18 km |
| Electoral Area L, Cariboo | 5,358 | 4 | 0 | 13 km |
| Oliver | 5,262 | 7 | 0 | 0.4 km |
| … | ||||
| Electoral Area B, North Okanagan | 3,415 | 17 | 0 | 3.2 km |
Set against 98 others, 41 have more schools in reach. Schooling in French is on hand in 24 of the 99.
Populations from Statistics Canada; schools from the provincial lists, in or within 3 km of each town.
Schools in the towns around Smithers
For each nearby town, its schools in or within 3 km of its outline, with straight-line distances.
| Town | Schools | French | Catholic or independent | Nearest secondary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithers | 10 | 1 | 4 | 55 km |
| Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako 4.2 km | 12 | 1 | 5 | 51 km |
| Telkwa 13 km | 1 | 0 | 0 | 41 km |
Top among the neighbours: Electoral Area A, Bulkley-Nechako, 12 schools.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- What isn’t here. Provinces don’t grade schools by inspection; class sizes and enrolment over time aren’t in the open lists.
- Bands, not ranks. Fifths are worked out among every BC school with a result on that measure, then averaged per school.
- The year. Listed for 2025/26.
- Boards and systems. A school’s board decides its language; the province funds no separate Catholic system.
- Which schools count. A 3 km band around Smithers’s outline is included, as it is for every town on the site.
- The kinds of school. Kindergarten to Grade 8 is elementary, Grade 9 to 12 secondary, though the split varies by province and board.
Questions about schools in Smithers
Is there a French-language school in Smithers?
Yes, there are French-language schools: La Grande-Ourse.
How many schools are there in Smithers?
9 are inside the town itself and 1 lie within 3 km of its edge.
How do I get a place at a school in Smithers?
Choose a system, then register with its board; the address decides the school.
Which boards run the schools in Smithers?
By number of schools: SD 54 Bulkley Valley (5) and SD 93 Conseil scolaire francophone (1).
Sources: BC Ministry of Education and Child Care, K-12 school list 2025/26 (Open Government Licence – British Columbia) · map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).