Enrolment Caps

LDCSB Schools with Enrollment Caps/Designated Holding Areas

Updated January 2025

Elementary

St. Anne, London. Once cap is reached, new students will attend St. Mark, London.
Blessed Sacrament, London. Once cap is reached, new students will attend Holy Family, London.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Delaware. Once cap is reached, new students will attend St. Theresa, London.
Sir Arthur Carty, London. Once cap is reached, new students will attend St. Jude, London.

Secondary

St. Andre Bessette, London. Once cap is reached, new students will attend Mother Teresa, London.
Grade 8 students Our Lady of Lourdes, Delaware have the option to enroll at Holy Cross Secondary School, Strathroy or St. Andre Bessette. Once cap at St. Andre Bessette is reached, new students will attend Mother Teresa, London.

Registration will be first come, first served. Additional factors affect registration eligibility at certain schools. Individual schools and the LDCSB admissions office will provide support and further guidance to families upon registration.

Why the Need for Enrolment Caps?

The London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB) has capped enrolment at some schools as the rapid rise in student enrolment continues.

Once schools reach their cap, new students will be directed to register at other nearby Catholic schools that still have space to welcome new students. Transportation will be provided assuming students meet bussing eligibility requirements. Transfers from other schools will not be accepted unless the family is new to the area.

The LDCSB welcomed roughly 1,500 new students for the 2024-25 school year and is the fastest growing Catholic school board in Ontario. The student population has increased from 18,000 to 27,500 students over the past eight years, and continues to welcome new students every day. Enrollment caps at additional schools are likely as the population continues to rise.

This is an exciting and challenging time for the school board. We are doing everything we can to welcome and provide space for new students. We are in constant communication with the Ministry of Education regarding the possibility of additional new schools while maximizing every available space in the system and ordering record numbers of portable classrooms. We added 130 portables over the past three years and may need another 50 portables for the Fall of 2025. We’ve also hired around 1,500 new employees over the past few years and probably need to hire hundreds more over the next year.

Some reports predict that the London area population will grow from 527,000 to 880,000 by 2051. If the LDCSB grows at the same rate, our student population could increase to approximately 46,000 students in the same timeframe.

This rapid growth means we are facing new challenges. We are using spaces differently in schools and are ordering more portable classrooms than ever before. Our newest elementary school opened at the beginning of January, a replacement high school is under construction and two new elementary schools are in the planning stages.

The LDCSB is hoping for approval to construct more schools, including new elementary schools and high schools in London and St. Thomas. As new schools are approved, designated holding areas may be established to ease transitions once the new schools are built.