Nunavut's only French school is looking at adding a 1,500 square metre expansion.

The expansion will make space to house students from kindergarten to Grade 12. Right now, students in the french program have to transfer to Inuksuk High School after Grade 9.

École des Trois-Soleils is currently planning what this expansion would look like. However, the expansion will likely include a gymnasium, four classrooms and student support spaces.

At a city council meeting on Tuesday, Barry Cornthwaite, manager of capital planning for the government of Nunavut's Department of Education, spoke to the council about the plans.

He was accompanied by Justin Leclair from Parkin Architect and Daniel Nenadov from Accutech Engineering who are working on the expansion for École des Trois-Soleils.

"We want to be very transparent on the topic we are talking about, the expansion of École des Trois-Soleils," said Cornthwaite.

He hopes to bring design options back to council in the next three months.

The estimated cost of the expansion is $15 million.

Iqaluit could benefit from new gym

City Councillor Romeyn Stevenson stressed to the delegates that additional space should also consider how the community could use it as well. Such as if the new gym would have a viewing area for events, or could be used to host a future Arctic Winter Games.

Cornthwaite says the department has applied to Heritage Canada for funding for the expansion. If the school received funding from Heritage Canada, it would only cover the costs of renovating spaces, like the gym or common areas, that could be used by the public. At this point, it's unclear if or how much Heritage Canada will chip in.

"What's the planning process for other schools in Iqaluit?" said Councillor Kyle Sheppard. "Nakasuk is quite old, the community is growing. Once we solve our water issue it is going to be growing a lot more rapidly."

Cornthwaite says the Department of Education prioritizes projects by community need. He says Iqaluit has the advantage of having more than one school and kids can be spread out when schools become crowded.

"They are prioritized I think in a very fair way that doesn't make everyone happy in every community in Nunavut, but we do make sure we are addressing issues all across Nunavut," said Cornthwaite.

Cornthwaite says improvements to Nakasuk school are in the "pre-planning" phase.

The delegates say they have held consultations on the design of the expansion with the French district education authority — la commission scolaire francophone du Nunavut — as well as students and staff at École des Trois-Soleils.

A public consultation on the expansion will be held Wednesday at 6 p.m. at École des Trois-Soleils.

The meeting will address what the expansion will look like, not whether or not it will happen. The expansion is expected to go ahead.