Tips & tools for completing school site JUPAs

Connect with the school boards in your communities and complete your Joint Use and Planning Agreements (JUPAs) as soon as possible, because the provincial government’s June 2023 deadlines will be here in no time!

Amendments to the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and the Education Act requiring municipalities to enter into JUPAs with school boards within three years were proclaimed in June 2020.

Alberta Municipal Affairs published an Implementation Fact Sheet that provides basic information on JUPAs that municipalities need to know. This resource defines a JUPA as “a formal partnership between a municipality and a school board to enable the integrated and long-term planning and use of school sites on municipal reserve (MR), school reserve (SR) and municipal and school reserve (MSR) land”.

The Local Government Administration Association of Alberta (LGAA) held a webinar in late September 2022 called, “Creating Joint Use and Planning Agreements with Your School Board”. Visit the LGAA Toolkits & Guides web page under ‘School Board Partnerships’ to find links to the session materials and recording. 

The LGAA webinar featured Parkland Community Planning Services, which developed a written resource earlier this year – Guide for Creating Joint Use and Planning Agreements – as well as three JUPA templates that apply to scenarios where schools currently exist and where they do not. Municipal Affairs provided funding support for the development of the guide and templates, so they are free for municipalities to use.

Municipalities can also apply to the Alberta Community Partnership to access funding for mediation support in the development of agreements with local school boards. The deadline to apply for funding under the Mediation and Cooperative Processes stream is February 3, 2023.

Please contact ABmunis Policy and Advocacy staff by advocacy [at] abmunis.ca (email) if you have any questions about JUPAs or any of these resources.