Pelican Narrows View on map
The community of Pelican Narrows or Wapawikoscikan is the largest of the communities that comprise the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. The community is located 388 km northeast of Prince Albert and situated on the beautiful shores of Pelican Lake. The community is accessible, from Prince Albert, by the paved highways of #55 and #106 with 50 kms of gravel on secondary highway #135. The closest urban centers to Pelican Narrows are the towns of Creighton, SK and Flin Flon, MB- 120 kms to the southeast along Highway #106. These centers offer amenities such as shopping (WalMart, Canadian Tire), medical care and entertainment.
The services available in the community of Pelican Narrows are as follows: a Primary Care (Angelique Canada Health Centre) and a 24 hour ambulance service, an RCMP detachment of 15 officers, two gas station, a Northern grocery store, one restaurant, a water base for fixed wing aircraft, a youth center, two churches and two schools that provide education from K-12 and mature student education programs. Other services include Forest Fire base with a seasonal crew, and numerous “home enterprises” from tire repairs to traditional crafts. Pelican Narrows, as with many other northern communities is comprised of a municipality side and First Nation side. The community residents rarely recognize this division as family ties and relationships are strong throughout the entire community.
The largest employer in the community is the Band itself through programs such as the Band Education, Health Center, Band office, and Child & Family Services; other employers include the Provincial Government who offers seasonal jobs through Forest Fire Management.
The population of Pelican Narrows, as identified by the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Registry Administrator as of March 2023 is 3,591.