Abbotsford School District (No. 34)（阿伯茨福德教育局）is a public school district in British Columbia, Canada, located in the Fraser Valley about an hour east of Vancouver. Its international program welcomes students aged 5 to 18, from a single semester to multiple academic years. This guide covers the school structure, programs on offer, entry requirements, published fees, and how the application and arrival process fits together, using only information from the district’s official international website (international.abbyschools.ca) as of August 5, 2026.
About Abbotsford School District (No. 34)
Abbotsford School District (No. 34)operates three levels of public schools: elementary schools covering kindergarten to grade 5 (ages 5 to 10), middle schools for grades 6 to 8 (ages 11 to 13), and secondary schools for grades 9 to 12 (ages 14 to 18). The district lists more than 30 elementary schools, eight middle schools, and four main secondary schools — Abbotsford Senior, W.J. Mouat, Robert Bateman and Yale — with a limited number of international places each year at Rick Hansen Secondary, the Abbotsford School of Integrated Arts and Abbotsford Traditional Secondary. Secondary schools typically enrol 1,200 to 1,500 students, of whom 5% to 8% are international. The school year runs in two semesters, September to January and February to June; students can enter at either point, or stay for a full academic year. Secondary students choose four courses per semester and attend each one daily, while elementary and middle school students follow a fixed timetable of academic classes and electives.
Programs and Specialty Options
Abbotsford School District (No. 34)offers a range of specialty programs alongside the regular BC curriculum. The International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme runs at Abbotsford Middle School for grades 6 to 8 with limited space; Abbotsford Senior Secondary offers pre-IB preparation in grades 9 and 10, and the full two-year IB Diploma in grades 11 and 12 at a fully accredited IB World School. IB Diploma applicants submit an application form and a writing sample and attend an interview, and the fee is 150 Canadian dollars per class to a maximum of 450. Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered at Robert Bateman and Yale Secondary; all AP classes are linear full-year courses, so single-semester students cannot take them, and space is limited with preference for returning grade 11 students. AP subjects include Physics 12, Biology 12, Chemistry 12, Calculus 12, Microeconomics 12, Psychology 12, French 12, English Literature 12 and European History 12. Outside the classroom, the district highlights film and television broadcasting, 2D and 3D animation, drafting and design for engineering and architecture, aviation preparation leading to the Transport Canada ground school exam, and fine and performing arts. Sports academies add soccer at Abbotsford Secondary (900 Canadian dollars per year or 550 per semester, full-year students only, full for 2026), golf at Robert Bateman (2,800 per year plus a 500 annual course membership, full-year students only), baseball and softball at Yale, and a no-cost basketball skills program at Robert Bateman. Outdoor education is offered as a full-year credit course at W.J. Mouat, while Robert Bateman runs a second-semester outdoor recreation program with a flat 500-dollar activity fee and an additional fee of about 700 dollars for the year-end coastal hike.
Entry Requirements for International Students
Abbotsford School District (No. 34)sets out its entry conditions clearly on the official FAQ page. Age: international students must be between 5 and 18 and must not turn 19 while enrolled. Students under 12 must live in Abbotsford with a parent or direct relative and cannot stay in a homestay on their own. For students aiming to graduate with the BC Diploma, the upper age limit to apply is 17, and the district recommends starting in grade 10. Students who are already 18 at the time of application cannot use the district homestay program, and the district cannot act as their custodian. Grades: applicants need an average of 65% or above over the past three years, with transcripts translated into English and the original untranslated copies also submitted. Language: admission does not depend on English ability — there is no minimum English score — and English language learning (ELL) support is assessed after arrival, with each student placed in regular classes alongside Canadian students from the first day. All international students must hold a Canadian study permit, even for a single semester; this is a visa requirement handled after acceptance, not part of the district’s admission decision.
Costs: 2026/27 and 2027/28 Published Fees
Abbotsford School District (No. 34)publishes its fee schedule in Canadian dollars, with annual and semester rates. The application fee is 200 Canadian dollars and the homestay application fee is 450, both non-refundable. The program fee — covering tuition, medical insurance and textbooks — is 16,500 per academic year or 8,250 per semester for 2026/27, and 17,500 per year or 8,750 per semester for 2027/28. District homestay costs 12,400 per year (1,200 per month for ten months plus 400 for the orientation period) or 6,400 per semester, and a one-way airport pickup is 220. The district’s combined figures are 29,770 for a 2026/27 academic year and 15,520 for a semester, rising to 30,770 and 16,020 for 2027/28. Other charges include 260 for the unaccompanied minor service, 200 to defer entry, 250 for report card validation, 300 as a refund processing fee, 250 for an extension, and 200 per week for late payment. Siblings studying together receive a discount of 500 per year or 250 per semester from the second student. Payment is accepted through the GlobalPay and Convera platforms or by international money order and cheque. The district notes that fees may change with government policy, and students who defer are charged at the rate of the year they actually attend; all figures above are from the August 2026 version of the official fee page.
Homestay, Custodianship and Medical Coverage
Abbotsford School District (No. 34)runs its own homestay department. Students aged 12 and older can live with a screened Canadian host family: hosts attend an orientation, receive a home inspection and interview, provide character references, and pass a criminal record check. Each family hosts at most three international students and provides a private furnished room, three meals a day and a 24-hour emergency contact number. Students under 12 must live with their legal parents or a direct relative. The district homestay cannot accept students taking prescription medication, students who are 18 at the start of the program, or students who have already graduated in their home country; these cases are referred to private homestay companies. As of August 2026 the official website states that the district homestay is no longer accepting students for September 2026 entry and can only help arrange private homestay placements, whose pricing differs from the district’s. For custodianship, British Columbia requires minors between 17 and the age of majority (19) to have a notarized custodianship declaration; the district acts as custodian free of charge for students in district homestay, homestay companies provide custodianship for their placements, and parents or direct relatives living in Abbotsford are the guardians. Medical insurance is included in the program fee: single-semester students are covered by StudyInsured for the full five months, while students studying six months or more are covered by StudyInsured for the first three months and then by the BC Medical Services Plan (MSP), which the provincial Ministry of Health requires and which typically begins about three months after arrival. Coverage, homestay and custodianship end on June 30 for students finishing in June and on January 31 for those finishing in January.
How to Apply and Key Dates
Abbotsford School District (No. 34)uses an online application with a seven-day completion window once started, so the district advises preparing all documents first. Required uploads include the passport copy, the Student Participation Agreement, a waiver form for high-risk activities for grades 9 to 12, and the homestay application if district homestay is requested. After submission, applicants are usually told within a week whether they have been offered a place. Accepted students receive a verification letter and a fee invoice; once fees are paid in full by the invoice date, they receive the official letter of acceptance, a notarized custodian document (if requested), an arrival confirmation form, orientation information and pre-departure information, and then apply for the Canadian study permit. There is no application deadline, but the district strongly encourages applying early because space in some schools and programs is limited and study permit processing times vary by country. For 2026/27, students arrive August 28 to 30, orientation runs August 31 to September 3, and semester one classes start September 8; semester two students arrive January 25 to 26, with orientation January 27 to 29 and classes from February 1. June 29 is the last day of classes, and June 30 is the final day of the program, after which homestay, custodianship and medical coverage end. Confirmed dates for 2027/28 are arrival August 27 to 29, orientation August 30 to September 2, and first day of classes September 7.
This guide reflects the official information published by Abbotsford School District (No. 34)as of August 5, 2026; fees and policies are reviewed regularly, so always check the latest official versions before planning. If you would like help matching a student’s age, grade and budget against the district’s current published requirements, our advisers here can walk you through the official information and the application steps.