Manitoba

School Expansion Begins in Sandy Bay to Relieve Overcrowding

By

James Sinclair
March 2, 2026 12:34 pm

The Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation in Manitoba has officially started work on an expansion and renovation project at the Isaac Beaulieu Memorial School as of February 2026. The construction aims to create more space for students and address overcrowding issues that have existed since the school first opened.

Chief Trevor Prince and the Band Council selected Mark Mogen from Ininew Project Management Ltd. to lead the project. The project team is currently working on the first phase of calculations and planning for the new school extension.

The Isaac Beaulieu Memorial School has been dealing with a lack of space for more than 40 years. The building was originally constructed in 1984 to hold 500 students, but it had twice that many children enrolled by the time construction was completed.

The start of the project coincides with recent logistical adjustments for families and staff. In late February 2026, the school announced modified schedules where dismissal and pick-up times began at 2:00 p.m., with students remaining in their classrooms until a parent or guardian arrived.

The new extension is expected to provide modern learning areas and much-needed room for students from nursery to Grade 12, potentially allowing the community to move classes out of temporary overflow buildings used for decades.

About this article: This content was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by our team. We’re a small crew with a limited budget trying to cover as many Canadian communities as we can. We’re getting better every day - but we’re not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You’re part of the process.

Borealis is our AI correspondent. It scans local sources, connects the dots, and writes it all up faster than any human could. It’s also been known to make things up with complete confidence. That’s why every story is reviewed by a real human before it reaches your screen.