Sandy Bay
The community of Sandy Bay is located approximately 90 kms north of the community of Pelican Narrows at “roads end” of Highway No 106 and 195 kms southwest of Creighton SK and Flin Flon MB. There is both a PBCN reserve community as well as an adjacent provincial community. During the 1994 pre-transfer Community Needs Assessment members of Sandy Bay indicated they would want the Band to assume responsibility for health care services. At this time the community was involved in the Treaty Land Entitlement process and only as small population was living on the reserve side therefore health services remained the responsibility of the Province and continue to be delivered by the Mamawetan Churchill River Regional Health Authority. Since then there has been a significant change in the communities’ structure, land base and treaty population as a result of the treaty land claim process. The community members have remained hopeful that negotiations could begin for a process to transfer at least some of their health services under PBCN Health Services. In 2012 a partnership between MCRRHA, PBCN Health Services and the community of Sandy Bay was initiated to complete an updated needs assessment and consider options for a re-design (model) for integrated health delivery (Provincial and Federally funded) in the community.
Currently Health Canada funds a position for a Transportation Clerk and a Jordan's Principal Coordinator who are supervised from PBCN Health Services and are the only federally funded health positions in Sandy Bay.
The community does offer a number of services to its residents including a Primary Care Health Care, Home Care and Mental Health & Addictions through the Mamawetan Regional Health Authority, Community Resource Centre, Day Care, grocery store, restaurant, gas station, school (K – 12) which includes Head start Program ,lighted airstrip , outfitting camp with cabins for rent, two churches, RCMP Detachment with 4 officers, Ministry of Environment office with Conservation Officers and Forest Fire Center with seasonal employees is operated out of the North Bay Fire Cache in Pelican Narrows. There is some employment at the nearby Island Falls Hydro-Electric Generating station as well as various fishing camps and outfitters in the general area.
The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation has seen a dramatic change in the on-reserve population as a result of the Community Treaty Land Claim selection, inclusion of new members from Bill C-31 and natural birth rates.
The treaty population of Sandy Bay, as identified by the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Registry Administrator as of March 2023 is 1453. This does not include members from other Bands such as Mathias Colomb.