---
title: "Ottawa French school board will open temporary downtown school at 440 Albert Street in 2027"
description: "The Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario says Grade 7 and 8 students will attend a temporary school at 440 Albert Street starting in the 2027-28 school year."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/ottawa-2026/news/cepeo-downtown-high-school-440-albert-november-2026"
last_updated: "2026-11-06T02:26:21.505Z"
---

Ottawa's French public school board said Thursday that it has found a temporary home for a new downtown high school: Grade 7 and 8 students will attend at 440 Albert Street starting in the 2027-28 school year.

The Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario (CEPEO) made the announcement in a news release, translated from French. CTV News Ottawa reported the story on November 5, 2026.

## What the board says

CEPEO says it has reached an agreement with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), which owns 440 Albert Street. The building is the former Ottawa Technical High School and is now home to the OCDSB continuing education office. The agreement lets CEPEO use the site while it continues to look for a permanent location.

"The school will be temporarily located at 440 Albert Street, under an agreement with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, which owns the building," the CEPEO said in its release. "This arrangement will allow the CEPEO to address the immediate needs of families in this underserved area, while continuing efforts to establish a permanent secondary school in the downtown core."

## The permanent school search continues

CEPEO says 440 Albert Street is not the permanent answer. The board says it will spend the coming months preparing the building for students, while at the same time keeping up its search for a permanent site.

In 2025, the Ontario government gave CEPEO nearly $41 million toward building a permanent downtown French-language high school. The planned permanent school is sized for 731 student spaces and 49 licensed childcare spaces, according to CTV News Ottawa.

## Who is behind this decision

The elected CEPEO trustees for Ottawa will take office on November 15, 2026, under the Municipal Elections Act, 1996. They oversee French public school education in the city. Voters elected CEPEO trustees in several zones across Ottawa on October 26, 2026. The board's director of education, Christan-Charle Bouchard, is quoted in the release saying the new school will give students "an environment where they can learn, grow, and thrive in French."

## What families can do

French-speaking families in downtown Ottawa who want their children enrolled at the new temporary school can now plan around the 2027-28 school year. The board says it will post updates as it prepares the Albert Street site. CEPEO's elected trustees for Ottawa are listed at [voche.me's Ottawa election pages](/on/ottawa-2026/news).

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