| RCE.CSAP | Total_Enrollment | Number_of_Schools |
|---|---|---|
| HALIFAX REGIONAL | 58203 | 138 |
| CHIGNECTO-CENTRAL REGIONAL | 20521 | 67 |
| ANNAPOLIS VALLEY REGIONAL | 13812 | 43 |
| CAPE BRETON-VICTORIA REGIONAL | 13086 | 38 |
| CONSEIL SCOLAIRE ACADIEN PROV. | 6728 | 23 |
| SOUTH SHORE REGIONAL | 6605 | 25 |
| STRAIT REGIONAL | 6269 | 20 |
| TRI-COUNTY REGIONAL | 6119 | 23 |
Nova Scotia Public Schools Enrollment Trends
Introduction
Problem statement
What are the overall trends in public school enrollment in Nova Scotia during the 2023/2024 school year and how does enrollment and access to specialized programs (French Immersion, O2, Co-Op Programs) vary across different RCEs and Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP)?
Methods
To investigate enrollment trends and the distribution of specialized programs (French Immersion, Options & Opportunities {O2}, and Cooperative Education) across Nova Scotia public schools in the 2023–2024 school year, this study employed a descriptive analytical approach and included
Descriptive statistics to summarize total enrollment and program availability
Comparative analysis across RCEs and CSAP using group summaries and proportions
While no predictive modeling (e.g., regression) was conducted, the project focused on exploratory data analysis to uncover trends and disparities in access to French Immersion, Options and Opportunities (O2), and Co-operative Education programs across Nova Scotia.
Five datasets from the Province of Nova Scotia’s Open Data portal were utilized for this analysis:
- Public School Enrollment
Contains school-level enrollment by RCE/CSAP and year - Schools with French Programs
A list of schools offering French Immersion programs. - Options and Opportunities (O2) Schools
Schools offering the O2 program, designed to help students explore career paths. - Public School Co-op Programs
Schools offering cooperative education programs. - School Contact Information
Includes grade range and location details for each school.
Links to each dataset can be found at the end of this document
Data Cleaning
This data was cleaned and merged as follows:
Filtering Public School Enrollment dataset to include only records from the 2023-2024 school year.
Each school was already labeled with a Regional Centre for Education/CSAP. These were used to group data for regional summaries.
For the purposes of both the O2 Section and the Co-Op Section, only High Schools (Schools that have a graduating or a grade 12 class) were used.
Analysis
Enrollment Across Nova Scotia
Looking at a birds eye view of just how many students are in each region of Nova Scotia, this table shows enrollment and number of schools (all levels) within the region.
Halifax Regional Centre for Education by far has the most schools and population.
Access to Programs
French Programs
Note
CSAP, the provincial francophone school board is not included in this section. Only English Regional Centres for Education were included. In the 2023-2024 school year there were 6728 students enrolled in 23 francophone schools in Nova Scotia.
Early French Immersion begins in grade Primary and continues to grade 12. Students in this program receive 85-100 percent instruction in French at the P-2 level, 70-80 percent instruction in French at the grades 4-6 level, 70-75 percent instruction in French at the junior high level, and 50 percent instruction in French at the senior high level. The 50 percent of instructional time in French Immersion at the high school level represents a minimum of nine credits taught in French (Government of Nova Scotia, 2025).
Late French Immersion begins in grade 7 and continues to grade 12. In each year of junior high, students take five courses in which the language of instruction is French. This constitutes 70-75 percent of instruction in French. Courses taught in Late French Immersion from grades 7 to 9 are French Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science and Healthy Living. The content of these subjects taught in French parallels that offered in the English program (Government of Nova Scotia, 2025).
Intensive French is an alternate way of offering the Core French program. It offers students of all abilities, who are not enrolled in immersion programs, an effective way to learn to communicate spontaneously in French. It is based on the acquisition of literacy skills, which means that students learn to listen and speak, read and write in French, in that order. Grammar is acquired naturally, through language use rather than by learning and memorizing rules (Government of Nova Scotia, 2025).
Integrated French allows students from Grade 7 to Grade 12 to take a minimum of two courses per year where the language of instruction is French, specifically French Language Arts and a variety of Social Studies-based courses (HRCE, 2025).
| RCE.CSAP | Early_Immersion | Middle_Immersion | Late_Immersion | Intensive_French | Integrated_French |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HALIFAX REGIONAL | 46 | 1 | 31 | 2 | 2 |
| CHIGNECTO-CENTRAL REGIONAL | 11 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
| STRAIT REGIONAL | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| TRI-COUNTY REGIONAL | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| ANNAPOLIS VALLEY REGIONAL | 8 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| SOUTH SHORE REGIONAL | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| CAPE BRETON-VICTORIA REGIONAL | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
Note
Note: The same school may offer more than one French Program. For Example, a High School may offer Early and Late French Immersion concurrently.
High School Programs
The following programs (Options and Opportunities and Cooperative Education) are offered only at the high school level. Below is listed number of High Schools in each Regional Centre for Education.
| RCE.CSAP | High_Schools |
|---|---|
| HALIFAX REGIONAL | 18 |
| CHIGNECTO CENTRAL REGIONAL | 16 |
| ANNAPOLIS VALLEY REGIONAL | 14 |
| CONSEIL SCOLAIRE ACADIEN PROVINCIAL | 11 |
| STRAIT REGIONAL | 10 |
| CAPE BRETON-VICTORIA REGIONAL | 9 |
| TRI-COUNTY REGIONAL | 8 |
| SOUTH SHORE REGIONAL | 7 |
Options & Opportunities (O2)
Note
Only High School programs offer O2 Programs (Grade 10-12)
For the purpose of this analysis, a “High School” is defined as any school with Grade 12 Students
| RCE.CSAP | O2_Schools |
|---|---|
| HALIFAX REGIONAL | 17 |
| CHIGNECTO-CENTRAL REGIONAL | 14 |
| ANNAPOLIS VALLEY REGIONAL | 8 |
| CAPE BRETON-VICTORIA REGIONAL | 8 |
| STRAIT REGIONAL | 8 |
| TRI-COUNTY REGIONAL | 8 |
| CONSEIL SCOLAIRE ACADIEN PROVINCIAL | 7 |
| SOUTH SHORE REGIONAL | 5 |
Cooperative Education (Co-op
Note
Only High School programs offer Co-op Programs (Grade 10-12)
For the purpose of this analysis, a “High School” is defined as any school with Grade 12 Students
| RCE.CSAP | Coop_Schools |
|---|---|
| HALIFAX REGIONAL | 16 |
| CHIGNECTO CENTRAL REGIONAL | 15 |
| CONSEIL SCOLAIRE ACADIEN PROVINCIAL | 11 |
| ANNAPOLIS VALLEY REGIONAL | 10 |
| STRAIT REGIONAL | 10 |
| TRI-COUNTY REGIONAL | 8 |
| CAPE BRETON VICTORIA REGIONAL | 7 |
| SOUTH SHORE REGIONAL | 6 |
Conclusion
This analysis of the 2023-2024 Nova Scotia Public School system reveals patterns in enrollent and program accessibility across Regional Centres for Education and Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial. The HRCE continues to serve the largest number of students in the most schools. There is a notable variation in access to specialized programs like French Immersion, O2, and Cooperative Education across the province. Some regions such as Halifax and Chignecto Central offer many options for French Language programs within their region, while regions like the South Shore and Cape Breton-Victoria offer little to no options for French Programming. What was interesting to find is that almost every High School in Nova Scotia offers both O2 and Co-op programs. Some discrepancies may arise in new school buildings that have not been updated in their program offerings.
By gathering data from multiple sources and filtering for relevant information, this report provides only a snapshot of where educational opportunities of the state of public education in Nova Scotia. These findings can inform policy and program planning to ensure students across Nova Scotia have access to diverse and enriching educational opportunities.
Works Cited
Government of Nova Scotia. (2025). French Immersion | Education & Early Childhood Development. https://curriculum.novascotia.ca/french-immersion
HRCE. (2025). French Programs. Halifax Regional Centre for Education. https://www.hrce.ca/students/general-information/french-programs
Datasets Used
Nova Scotia Public School Enrolment by RCE/CSAP and School
https://data.novascotia.ca/Education-Primary-to-Grade-12/Nova-Scotia-Public-School-Enrolment-by-RCE-CSAP-an/cjnf-ywvt/about_data
Schools with French Programs
https://data.novascotia.ca/Education-Primary-to-Grade-12/Schools-with-French-Programs/kdgs-3rvd/about_data
Options and Opportunities (O2) Schools
https://data.novascotia.ca/Education-Primary-to-Grade-12/Options-and-Opportunities-O2-Schools/s56f-5bea/about_data
Public School Co-op Programs
https://data.novascotia.ca/Education-Primary-to-Grade-12/Public-School-Co-op-Programs/mzvg-qui6/about_data
Nova Scotia Public School Contact Information
https://data.novascotia.ca/Education-Primary-to-Grade-12/Nova-Scotia-Public-School-Contact-Information/iyap-ttn5/about_data