Vancouver school holidays 2026: term dates and calendar

BC statutory holidays in Vancouver 2026

Vancouver schools close on British Columbia statutory holidays, several of which fall during term time in 2026 and create long weekends:

BC Family Day falls on the third Monday of February and sits in the run-up to spring break. Labour Day on the first Monday of September marks the end of the summer holiday, with students starting the next day. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on 30 September is a statutory school closure across the province.

VSB school calendar 2026-27

Vancouver public schools work to the VSB calendar, which runs from September to late June with two main multi-week breaks and a set of professional development and administrative days. The confirmed 2026-27 dates are:

The VSB places several professional development days through the year, including one in late September, one in October, one in November and one in February, on which students do not attend. For the 2025-26 year that ends in 2026, the equivalent breaks were a two-week winter break across Christmas and a two-week spring break in mid-to-late March, with students finishing in late June; the figures above show the confirmed forward calendar for 2026-27. Dates can shift slightly between Vancouver and the neighbouring North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Burnaby districts, so check the board that runs your school.

Independent and international school term dates

Vancouver has a strong independent sector and a number of international schools, many serving families from East Asia who choose the city for a Canadian high-school diploma and a route into North American universities. These schools teach a northern-hemisphere September to June year, so the broad rhythm matches the VSB and the same BC statutory holidays apply. Where they differ is in the length of the breaks: independent schools often take a longer winter break of two and a half to three weeks and a spring break that may run a few days either side of the public school dates. A small number of schools that recruit heavily overseas align part of their calendar with their students' home countries, but the September to June Canadian year is the norm.

For a relocating family the reassuring point is that across the public and independent sectors the holidays broadly line up, so siblings in different schools rarely face wildly different breaks. To compare programmes, including the BC Certificate of Graduation against the International Baccalaureate, see our curriculum guides, and for the national picture our Canada schools guide sets out how the provincial systems differ.

Planning the year

Three practical notes for Vancouver families. First, the two-week spring break in March is the natural window for a warm-weather trip south or a ski week at Whistler, and flights and resort accommodation over that fortnight need booking well ahead. Second, independent and international school fees are usually billed once or twice a year, with the main instalment due before the September start, so plan for it over the summer. Third, the long northern-hemisphere summer from late June to early September lines up with most of the United States and Europe, which makes transatlantic and cross-border family visits straightforward but the peak fares expensive. For the wider context, our Vancouver city guide covers where school-age families settle across the city and the North Shore.

Common questions

When do schools break up in Vancouver? VSB students finish in late June. The winter break runs 21 December 2026 to 1 January 2027 with schools reopening on 4 January 2027, and there is a two-week spring break in March.

How long is the summer holiday in Vancouver? Around nine weeks, from late June to early September. The 2026-27 year starts for students on Tuesday 8 September 2026.

When does the 2026 school year start in Vancouver? The VSB 2026-27 year begins on Tuesday 8 September 2026, the day after Labour Day, on a September to June calendar.

Do international schools in Vancouver follow a different calendar? Most follow the same September to June year and BC statutory holidays as the VSB, though they often take longer winter and spring breaks.

Related guides

• Vancouver city guide
• Canada schools guide
• London school holidays 2026