At least seven Vancouver schools are expected to have more students register for kindergarten than the schools can accommodate.

Enrolment pressure has been a factor at Vancouver’s downtown schools and those in the False Creek area for the past several years, but the problem is intensifying as more families choose to live downtown.

At Elsie Roy elementary in Yaletown, there are already 80 applications for just 44 kindergarten spaces, said David Nelson, the Vancouver school board’s director of instruction.

Other schools where waiting lists are anticipated are Simon Fraser elementary — which takes students from Olympic Village — Henry Hudson elementary, Edith Cavel elementary, Dickens elementary and Charles Dickens Annex.

Prospective students who have a sibling still attending the school the following year will be given priority, Nelson said.

There is still a month to go, so more families may yet apply. Parents have until Jan. 30 to register all kindergarten-aged children in their catchment school. Children who turn five before Jan. 1, 2016 are eligible for kindergarten in September 2015.

Even if they want to attend a school not in their catchment or a special program like French Immersion, they must first register at the catchment school. Once that is done, the student receives a student number, which can be used to then apply online for choice programs, such as French Immersion, Montessori or Mandarin Immersion, or to apply for a school outside their neighbourhood.

In the third week of February, each school with more applicants than spaces will hold a draw for spaces. Parents will then receive emails with a placement offer, which they are expected to respond to quickly so students on waiting lists can be offered spaces as they are turned down.

For choice programs, parents are asked to rank their top three choices. The draw is done by priority, with siblings at the top. Next, comes in-catchment students and that list is prioritized with parents who chose the school as their first choice at the top, then second choice, then third choice. If there are still any spaces, out-of-catchment students are next, followed by students from outside of Vancouver.

Children in the regular program who do not get a place in their catchment school will be given an alternate placement in a nearby school, Nelson said. They also will still have a two-week window to apply for another school of their choice.

Cross-boundary applications will not be given on a first-come, first-served basis. Instead, they will be accepted until Feb. 27 and if there are too many applicants for a school to accommodate, a draw will be held, Nelson said.

Overall, enrolment is declining, but there are pockets of the city where schools are very full, Nelson said. While there is a school planned for International Village downtown, it is still a couple of years away from completion. The school district also has sites in Olympic Village and in Coal Harbour, but the provincial government has not given funding or a timeline for schools to be built on those sites, Nelson said.