Case Study: Holy Family Catholic Regional Division achieves 70% reduction in vaping and improved student safety with Avigilon Halo Smart Sensors

Fostering a safer learning environment for students, faculty and staff

Holy Family Catholic Regional Division (HFCRD) is a K–12 district in Peace River, Alberta, serving nine schools across a 12,000 km² area with about 1,750 students. After the COVID-19 pandemic the division saw a surge in student vaping—especially in washrooms and change rooms—and needed a centralized, tamper‑resistant system that could provide real‑time alerts to deter incidents and improve overall student and staff safety.

HFCRD ran a trial then deployed HALO Smart Sensor 2C and 3C devices with a Halo Cloud subscription in high‑risk areas, integrating vape/THC detection, aggression detection, air‑quality monitoring, tamper alerts and real‑time notifications with security cameras. The rollout cut recorded vaping incidents by roughly 70% (from 90 to about 28 in November YoY 2023–24), reduced staff patrol time, improved response and air‑quality management during wildfire season, and delivered reliable data that strengthened community trust and data‑driven safety decisions.

Holy Family Catholic Regional Division

Zachary Silva

Secretary-Treasurer