New Edmonton Islamic Academy will have space for 1,600 children, with growing waitlist

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Edmonton Islamic School. (CTV News Edmonton)

Edmonton’s Islamic Academy has broken ground on what they’re calling the largest faith-based educational development in Canada.

It’s a new $80 million elementary school campus.

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The school will have room for more than 1,600 students from Grades 1 to 6, with a waitlist of more than 1,500 children.

Al Rashid mosque says so far the Islamic community has raised almost $20 million for the project.

“Because we do have a well-established Muslim community here, Edmonton has become an attraction or a destination for Muslim families that are settling in Canada, which means that demand is only getting higher, just within the last two years,” said Noor Al-Henedy of Al Rashid Mosque.

“Our re enrollment rate is almost at 100 per cent and the waiting list just kept growing and growing.”

The mosque is continuing to accept donations for the school and says the project is a “strong candidate” for the province’s school construction accelerator program.