Capital Bylaws

All provincially funded capital projects require a capital bylaw adopted by the board of education to allow school district access to capital funds through the Provincial Treasury's Certificate of Approval (COA) system. This requirement applies to any capital project, either approved through the Ministry of Education capital plan (e.g., new schools, additions, replacements, renovations, seismic upgrades, site acquisitions, bus acquisitions); a special program (e.g., Full Day Kindergarten, Building Envelope Program, Energy Efficient Mechanical Upgrades, Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement); or annual capital funding (e.g., Annual Facilities Grant). Ministry of Education restricted capital and land capital reserve funded projects also require a capital bylaw although funding is not accessed through the COA system.

While the capital bylaw’s pro forma is the same for all types of capital projects, it may be customized by school districts to suit individual projects (for example, by removing the reference to Capital Project Agreement for Annual Facilities Grant, Full Day Kindergarten, Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement, or transportation projects).

The processing of a capital bylaw to generate a Certificate of Approval is initiated by faxing or emailing a board adopted bylaw to the Ministry; however, the original capital bylaw - complete with the Board Seal - is required for it to be officially registered.

 

Please Note:
  • The “total maximum allocation” for the project’s bylaw is comprised of capital plan, Ministry of Education restricted capital and land capital funding, if applicable.
  • The “total maximum allocation” for the project’s bylaw should reflect the “below the line” amount; the COA will be for the “above the line” amount; an amended COA will be provided when “below the line” funding is reviewed and approved by the Ministry.
  • For the capital bylaw’s pro forma posted on the Ministry web site: red text denotes choice; and blue text denotes instruction or guidance. The coloured text should be deleted before presenting the capital bylaw for board approval.
  • Please ensure that the words “CORPORATE SEAL” are removed prior to affixing the Board Seal.
 The signed original bylaw should be sent to the following address:

Capital Management Branch
Ministry of Education
PO Box 9151, Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC  V8W 9H1

Once Capital Management Branch has received a board adopted capital bylaw for the project and the project posted on Provincial Treasury’s system (TN3270 Plus), capital funds are then available for requesting an advance, even though an electronic or hard copy of the COA may not yet have been received by the district from the Ministry.

 

The cut-off for requesting advances is Wednesday midnight for electronic fund transfers to be made to school district accounts on the following Tuesday morning.

Capital Plan Project Bylaws