Snow day: Dozens of schools closed in B.C.'s Lower Mainland Wednesday following winter storm

In the wake of southern B.C.’s first major snowstorm of the season, more than 100 schools in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley are keeping their doors closed Wednesday.

School districts in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope, Langley and Maple Ridge are telling students and staff to stay home, shuttering a total of 151 schools.

“Student and staff safety is paramount,” Chilliwack’s school district 33 wrote on Twitter before 5:30 a.m. Nov. 30. “Due to very icy road conditions, we have determined that schools will be closed for students and staff today.... All Rentals, Community Schools and Daycares are also closed.”

It's not just school districts 33, 34, 35, 42 and 78 that have dubbed Wednesday a snow day.

A Sikh learning institution, Khalsa Schools of BC, is keeping the doors shut for its four locations in the Lower Mainland.

Pius Ryan, the superintendent of schools in North Vancouver and snow contact for Metro Vancouver school districts tells CTV News that classes are still a go across his jurisdiction.

University campuses in Metro Vancouver are adjusting plans too, with Simon Fraser University announcing its Burnaby campus won't open until 10:30 a.m., and the University of British Columbia cancelling in-person classes scheduled before 1 p.m.

SFU is keeping its Surrey and Vancouver campuses open, and the snow won’t be impacting online classes anywhere.

Snow began falling across southern B.C. Tuesday afternoon, bringing between 10-20 cm to Metro Vancouver, and up to 25 cm in parts of the Fraser Valley.