Western Canada High School is a public high school in Calgary, Alberta that has operated since 1929. The high school was antedated by Western Canada College, a boys' preparatory school in the style of a British public school that opened in 1903. The College existed until the end of the 1926 academic year when it closed due to financial problems. The Calgary Board of Education purchased the property that year, and by September 1929 completed a group of new school buildings on the site. From 1929 to 1935 academic and technical schools operated independently on the Western property, until which time they merged under a single administration.
Western Canada is one of Calgary's oldest and most prestigious educational institutions. Given its proximity to the historic upper-class neighbourhoods of Mount Royal, Elbow Park, Roxboro, and Rideau Park, it has long been associated with the city's élite and establishment. Western Canada graduates have gone on to prolific careers in politics, law, sport, and the arts.
History
Western Canada College
The inspiration to build an advanced school in the then North-West Territories (NWT) came from James Chalmers Herdman (1855–1910), a Scottish Presbyterian minister. In 1902, Herdman had been appointed superintendent for the missions in British Columbia and the Territory. During his travels, he heard repeatedly from settlers about the inadequacy of educational institutions in the west. Herdman repeated his findings to friends in Calgary, and soon a sub-committee of the Calgary Presbytery was struck to investigate the creation of a new school. The sub-committee consisted of Herdman, James Muir, James Short, C. A. Stuart, and W. McDavidson. In April 1903, the committee reported that the recommended name for the school be "Western Canada College." Although the school was founded under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church, it was decided that it would be non-denominational. On 19 June 1903, An Ordinance to Incorporate "Western Canada College" received assent in the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories.
The original school building was completed in 1903 as a British-style exclusive high school for boys called Western Canada College (not a college in the North American sense of the word). It was created by "The Western Canada College Bill of Incorporating Ordinance" enacted by the Legislature of the NWT, which Calgary was then a part of before the province of Alberta was created in 1905. To raise money for the new college, 5000 shares were sold for $10 each. Many of the original investors read like a "Who's Who" list for Alberta; Pat Burns, R. B. Bennett, A.E. Cross, William Pearce, A.C. Rutherford (who was premier at the time), and George Lane.
On Wednesday, 23 September 1903 at 9:30 am, Western opened its doors and began classes. Opening ceremonies for the school took place the next evening at Hull's Opera House in Calgary. Their ceremony was presided over by Sir Frederick Haultain, premier of the NWT. When it opened, the school had nine residential students and 19 day students. At the beginning of the second academic year in September 1904, there were 25 students in residence and 15 day students.
In the summer of 1904, the college announced plans to construct a residence building on its property. On Friday, 9 September 1904, Governor General The Earl of Minto laid the cornerstone. On Friday, 13 January 1905, the building had an informal opening where citizens were invited to tour it.
Western Canada High
A granite shaft bearing a Cross of Sacrifice was dedicated as a list of honor memorial to Western Canada College students who were killed during the First World War and who served during the Second World War, the Korean War and as peacekeepers. The cenotaph was designed by architect George Fordyce, and was a modification of a design Arthur J. Wade. It was unveiled officially on Sunday, 26 August 1928.