Shawnigan Lake School

Shawnigan Lake School was founded in 1916 by Christopher Windley Lonsdale in a then-secluded west coast rainforest on Vancouver Island.

Modeled after Westminster School (the Founder’s alma mater), Shawnigan’s inaugural class consisted of six students. It would rapidly expand in its early years, and by the end of its first decade, boasted nearly 100 boarders, a well-equipped gymnasium, and a growing reputation of academic excellence.

In 1926, most of the original buildings were destroyed by a fire, only to be rebuilt within months.

As the years passed, Shawnigan withstood two world wars, economic crises and changing approaches to education to forge a place as one of the country's leading boarding schools.

Shawnigan made the move to co-education in 1988, and now boasts nearly 500 students. Nine residences now dot the School’s campus, along with a re-invented Learning Commons, an ice rink and an observatory.