Status of Changes to School Zone Times


“Alberta Transportation is working on standardizing the start and end times for school and playground zones. The proposed changes will increase safety across the province and provide consistency for motorists, parents, and children.

As part of this work, Alberta Transportation is holding stakeholder consultations in November and December with parent school councils, school boards, municipalities, and police forces.

The consultations will present stakeholders with the following proposed changes:

  • School zones on school days would be 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Use of Highway and Rules of the Road Regulation. Currently school zones have three start and end times on school days (8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; and 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.).
  • Playground zones on all days would be 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Use of Highway and Rules of the Road Regulation. Playground zones are currently in effect daily from 8:30 a.m. to one hour after sunset.
  • Road authorities, including Alberta Transportation and municipalities, would adopt the national standards for signage of school and playground zones and areas in Alberta.
  • There are no proposed changes to the speed limit in school and playground zones. The speed limit will remain at 30 kilometers per hour.

 Albertans are able to provide their feedback to the proposed changes at trans.driver.prog@gov.ab.ca

~Government of Alberta Transportation