Fewer students are attending classes in the Northern Lights School Division. (ID 39609297 | Room © Kittipak | Dreamstime.com)

By Derek Cornet

northern education

NLSD enrolment drops by nearly 700 students in last decade

Oct 29, 2025 | 2:36 PM

There are few students enrolled in the Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) this academic year compared to last.

That’s according to Director of Education Jason Young, who noted there are 3,828 students enrolled between Grade 12 and Pre-Kindergarten as of Sept. 30. It’s a trend that has been consistent since at least 2014 when it had 4,508 students enrolled during that academic year.

“We’re just looking to see why that trend is what it is,” he said.

“Who are they, where did they go and if they are in the community, how do we get them back? There’s a whole series of things to investigate, explore and analyze when you’re looking at the enrolment data when it comes in.”

Young explained there could be a number of reasons why there are nearly 700 fewer students in the school division than there was a decade ago. Those reasons could include urbanization to large centres away from the North, an increase of First Nations students attending classes on reserve or perhaps families are simply having fewer children.

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“There was a time it felt like we were a have school division and First Nations were have not systems,” Young remarked.

“What I am seeing is a trend where in comparison to the systems of the First Nations, we’re a have not division and the First Nations are a have with all those supports and access to those supports.”

Enrolment numbers have particularly plummeted since COVID. In 2019, there were 4,327 students in the division, while in 2020, that number dropped to 4,068.

“As far as the COVID piece, I think that’s also part of our analysis and our review,” Young said.

“When you look at trends pre-COVID, we were doing well in some of the areas in the division and then COVID hits and [we] kind of seen that decline and we’re slowly starting to see that data change and increase in some instances. You’d certainly like to see that happen broadly, sooner and aggressively, but I think we just have to meet people where their at and that’s what we need to be mindful of.”

Young also believes there are more and more northerners travelling to southern communities for post-secondary education. Before the closing of NORTEP/NORPAC, he said there was a lot more movement of families in the North coming to the La Ronge area, but more are now remaining in their home communities or traveling to Southern Saskatchewan for a higher education.

The NLSD is the largest school division in Saskatchewan by area. In 2024, the division included 21 schools and employed a full-time staff equivalent of 658.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com