Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 12–18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary, and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
Founded in 1916
At Shawnigan, we are proud of our tight-knit community consisting of students from different backgrounds living together on one campus.
More than 30% of students at Shawnigan receive financial aid in the form of scholarships and bursaries. Families who receive financial aid also commit to share in the financial responsibility for their child's education by pledging to pay it forward for another Shawnigan student in the future.
Hands-on learning gives students a deeper understanding of how the world works.
We develop a culture of curiosity, collaboration, independence, and resilience in our students through educators and peers who inspire our students to embrace a love of learning by challenging them to solve problems critically and creatively.
Our educational staff offer daily, individualized support, and meet as a whole six times a year to review the academic progress and effort level of each student.
Students have opportunities for academic and cultural travel. Recent trips have taken students on exchanges to France and to the Japan Super Science Fair.
• AP Biology
• AP Calculus AB
• AP Chemistry
• AP Chinese Language and Culture
• AP Comparative Government and Politics
• AP Computer Science A
• AP Drawing
• AP English Language and Composition
• AP English Literature and Composition
• AP European History
• AP French Language and Culture
• Dual Dogwood Diploma (French Immersion Designation)
• Canadian Writing Competitions
• Waterloo Math Contest
• AP German Language and Culture
• AP Macroeconomics
• AP Physics 1
• AP Physics 2
• AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
• AP Physics C: Mechanics
• AP Psychology
• AP Research
• AP Seminar
• AP Spanish Language and Culture
• AP Statistics
• AP Studio Art: 2-D Art and Design
• AP Studio Art: 3-D Art and Design
• SAT Prep Class
• SAT Exams offered on campus multiple times per year
• DELF Exams
Shawnigan Lake School sits amid the rugged, wild, and varied landscape of Canada’s Pacific coast. Students visit various places throughout Vancouver Island and small neighbouring islands, and learn about the local ecosystem and Indigenous cultures and communities. Programs offered include:
• Living lab teaches participants to test water quality and study local biodiversity
• Salmon hatchery puts fish stock directly in the hands of students.
• Growing dome teaches students about sustainable agriculture
• Entrepreneurship 12 class faces the pressures of running a restaurant
• Model UN delegates discuss geopolitical crises
• Robotics team must overcome technical challenges while competing on local and global stages
• Beyond the Gates program explores the beautiful and diverse wilderness of Vancouver Island and beyond by hiking, sea kayaking, and camping
• EDGE (Experience, Development, Gratitude and Engagement) program challenges students to take responsibility for their own experience while engaging with communities in Canada and around the world; groups have visited countries as diverse as Thailand, Costa Rica, China, Ecuador, and Zimbabwe
acres featuring lakefront, forest, playing fields, and wilderness trails
Our world-class facilities include:
• Growing dome • Observatory • Recording studio • Robotics lab • Salmon hatchery
Three-year student at Shawnigan Lake School, Head of Kaye’s House, Senior Girls’ Rowing Team Captain, Spanish 12 Award Winner, Committee Director Global Goals Conference, 7 AP courses, 92% academic average, Dual Dogwood Diploma (French Immersion Designation)
“As I’ve started my first year at university working as a page, my gratitude for my Shawnigan experience has only grown. It’s hard to recognize what you are being given when you are there, but now that I am away from it, I can see how fundamental Shawnigan was to who I am today. I was given the opportunity to take so many different classes and try so many different things, and the support that I received from my teachers, coaches, and the guidance counsellors truly set me up for success. But in the end, it was the community that surrounded me, especially in Kaye’s House, that built my confidence and allowed me to grow into the person I am today.”
“The Gilmour family feels indebted to Shawnigan for providing each of our three daughters with an experience that has prepared them for the next stage of their academic careers. At Shawnigan, it’s the feeling of achievement that drives the students to excel. This is a standard that has been set for our kids and it has taught them that they need to apply the same work ethic at university that was simply expected at Shawnigan.
Often, students have self-doubt when they branch out and leave the security of high school, but the kids coming from Shawnigan aren’t bending under the pressures of their studies. Shawnigan provides a blueprint for academic success and marries it with an understanding that teenagers flourish when they know that they matter.”
Our experienced team of counselling specialists offers an unparalleled service that provides students with the tools to navigate the world of Canadian, US and international university applications and select a course of study that will prepare them for an exciting and fulfilling future.
In addition to meeting with our students on a regular basis, the Guidance Office at Shawnigan is a full-service department that helps students with essay writing, interview preparation, and university selection and arranges information sessions each year on topics such as scholarship applications, university applications, and more.
Shawnigan graduates have been awarded many prestigious scholarships recently, including:
• Morehead-Cain Scholarship
• Uggla Family Scholarship
• Canadian House of Commons Page Program (bilingual)
Our 2022 graduates received over $1.7 million in scholarships and financial aid from universities.
100% of university applicants from the class of 2022 received offers of admission 78% attending universities in Canada* 14% attending universities in United States* 8% attending universities beyond North America* *Three-year average (2020–2022)
CANADA
University of Toronto*
University of British Columbia* University of Victoria*
Carleton University Concordia University Dalhousie University
Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Huron University College McGill University Queen’s University
Simon Fraser University Toronto Metropolitan University
Trent University Vancouver Film School
Western University (including the Ivey Business School)
Wilfrid Laurier University University of Alberta
University of Calgary University of Guelph University of Ottawa University of Waterloo USA
University of California: Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara* University of Washington* University of Colorado Boulder*
Arizona State University Berklee College of Music Boston University
Columbia University Harvard University
Loyola Marymount University
Michigan State University New York University Northeastern University
Pennsylvania State University Savannah College of Art and Design
Syracuse University University of Hawaii Yale University
INTERNATIONAL
University College London* University of Manchester* Cardiff Metropolitan University* Durham University
École hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland
Ibero-American University, Mexico
IE University, Spain Suffolk University
University of the Arts London University of Bath University of Cambridge
*Top acceptance choice
Shawnigan is an official partner and training centre for Rugby Canada, Rowing Canada, Thunder Indigenous Rugby, and the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.
• Badminton
• Basketball
• Cross-Country
• Field Hockey
• Fitness and Conditioning
• Golf • Ice Hockey
• Rowing • Rugby • Soccer • Spinning • Squash
• Swimming
• Tennis • Volleyball
• Whitewater Kayaking
Our athletic programs develop the student athlete, and transfer the values of strong character, work ethic, life skills, and habits through sport.
Shawnigan is known for sporting success that includes dozens of provincial and national championships in rugby, rowing, ice hockey, field hockey, golf, and squash. Shawnigan student athletes have gone on to win university championships in Canada and the US in rugby, rowing, ice hockey, field hockey, golf, and soccer.
In our competitive program, we have world-class coaching that includes past Olympians and Olympic medallists, world champions, national team players in multiple sports, and former professional athletes.
Our athletic facilities include:
• Ice arena; multi-use sportsplex with two full-size gyms, fitness areas, and weight room; outdoor sports village with soccer turf, beach volleyball, and synthetic ice surface
• Rugby pavilion and fields for rugby and soccer
• Crewhouse and rowing docks
• Water-based field hockey pitch and synthetic turf
• Six squash courts
• Six tennis courts
• Indoor and outdoor basketball courts
Student athletes are also supported with:
• On-site health centre, physiotherapists, and athletic therapists
• Sport-specific strength and conditioning programs
• Academic and wellness programs
• University guidance on postsecondary academics and athletics
• Basketball trips to Hawaii, California, and Oregon
• Golf trip to Arizona
• Ice hockey trips to Boston, New York, Toronto, and Quebec
• Rugby trips to Argentina, France, Italy, Japan, Las Vegas, California, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK
• Tennis trip to Spain
• Rowing trips to Seattle and California
During two afternoons per week, students can choose from over 30 co-curricular programs. Our co-curricular program (360) offers opportunities from all around the School — opportunities for students to explore, experience, create, innovate, connect, reflect, lead, and discover new things about themselves and the world around them.
• 3D Printing
• Astronomy Imaging & Outreach
• Baking
• Boat Building
• Clayworks
The C.A.S.E. (Communications, Arts, Sciences & Entrepreneurship) initiative brings artists, young entrepreneurs, and aspiring scientists together to support innovative projects.
Past projects include:
• Producing and recording an album
• A web server to support an ordering system for the Stag Café
• Creation of portfolios that have helped students gain admission to NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Berklee College of Music
• Cooking
• D&D & Strategic Games
• Dance
• Digital Animation
• Digital Illustration
• Digital Photography
• Figure Skating
• Film Production
• Fly Tying
• Grassroots Sports
• Homework Helpers
• Jewellery Making
• Mixed Media Art
• Model UN
• Musical Theatre
• Recording Arts
• Robotics
• Rock Band & Modern Music
• Scuba
• Search & Rescue
• Service
• SPUD (Agricultural Growing Dome)
• Stage Crew
• Stitch Lab
• Studio Art & Workshops
• Watercolour & Sumi-e
• Woodwork
• Yoga & Meditation
With the largest number of full-time boarders of any school in Canada, boarding life is the cornerstone of a Shawnigan experience. Shawnigan offers a multitude of amenities for students that create a home away from home for our boarding students.
• Boarding houses with staff designated to provide day-to-day support
• On-campus Health Centre to enhance student well-being, with nurses and counsellors to support body, mind and spirit
• English Language Centre to help students learn, live, and thrive in English, preparing them for a wealth of post-secondary possibilities
• Advisor program that pairs each student with a staff member who
provides guidance, mentorship, and encouragement
• Organized weekend activities and educational trips planned during school breaks
• Transportation Department to coordinate travel, activities, and trips
• Faith-inclusive chapel and chaplain
• Dining Hall where students sit, share, and eat together
• Coffee Shop and School Store stocked with snacks, personal care items, and school supplies
Students elect to participate in the Learning Centre (LC) program for a variety of reasons, including support for learning challenges; academic difficulties; recovery from injury, illness or prolonged absence; and mental health challenges that interfere with academics. At the LC, enrolled students are supported within a beautifully designed space by exceptionally talented full-time teachers who each have special education training as well as subject specialties. Shawnigan students who enrol in the LC program benefit from a number of unique
This dynamic year-long program takes students out of the classroom and into the beautiful and diverse wilderness of Vancouver Island and beyond.
All Grade 9 students participate in a series of experiential learning and outdoor activities, allowing the connection between the classroom curriculum and real-world applications to be explored on a rite-of-passage journey.
This is accomplished by blending lived learning experiences with academic classes, all facilitated by a dedicated team of dynamic education staff. Through these experiences, students additionally gain soft skills such as teamwork, leadership, curiosity, and flexibility — all while seeing the benefits in mental health and self-confidence.
Trips include hiking the West Coast Trail and Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, sea kayaking in the Gulf and Broken Group Islands, and visiting the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.
One of Shawnigan’s uniquely differentiating features is our carefully crafted Grade 8 experience. For our 12and 13-year-old Grade 8 students, we have developed a nurturing program that acts as a supportive springboard into the wider Shawnigan community.
Rather than being immersed in a senior House from the get-go, our Grade 8s begin their Shawnigan journey in a specially designed Grade 8 House with their peers, with the Stanton wing for girls and the Levien wing for boys.
The two wings in the newly built Samuel House are each run by a caring team of dedicated House staff — supported by live-in Grade 11 students who act as mentors — who work in tandem to foster a supportive co-ed grade culture characterized by close friendships that will shape the students’ onward journey at Shawnigan.
The Shawnigan Journey is an intentional and progressive educational, social, and emotional experience that spans Grade 8 to Grade 12. This unique initiative is a carefully researched response to the fast-paced and rapidly changing world in which we now find ourselves.
Current and future generations of Shawnigan students will need to adapt more quickly than past generations, and they will be commissioned to tackle monumental political, social, technological, and environmental challenges. Encompassing the British Columbia curriculum’s innovative and highly regarded core competencies, The Shawnigan Journey is designed to equip our students to respond to these challenges and to thrive independently beyond the School’s gates.
