The original school building was completed in 1903 as a British-style exclusive high school for boys called Western Canada College (not a college in the North American sense of the word). It was created by ""The Western Canada College Bill of Incorporating Ordinance"" enacted by the Government of the Northwest Territories, which Calgary was then a part of before the province of Alberta was created in 1905. To raise funds for the new college, 5000 shares were sold for $10 each. Many of the original investors read like a "Who's Who" list for Alberta; Pat Burns, R. B. Bennett, A.E. Cross, William Pearce, A.C. Rutherford (who was premier at the time), and George Lane.