Lloydminster
City
City of Lloydminster
An aerial view of Lloydminster City Hall looking north along the Alberta / Saskatchewan border
Flag Logo
Nicknames:  "Border City" or "Canada's Border City", "Heavy Oil Capital of Canada"[1][2]
Boundaries of Lloydminster
Location in Alberta and Saskatchewan
Coordinates: 53°16′41″N 109°58′49″W / 53.27806°N 109.98028°W / 53.27806; -109.98028[3]
Country	Canada
Provinces	Alberta (AB) Saskatchewan (SK)
Regions	Central Alberta, West Central Saskatchewan
Census divisions	10 (AB), 17 (SK)
Adjacent municipal district	County of Vermilion River
Adjacent rural municipalities	RM of Wilton No. 472 RM of Britannia No. 502
Incorporated[4]
• Village (SK)	November 25, 1903
• Village (AB)	July 6, 1906
• Town (SK)	April 1, 1907
• Amalgamation	May 22, 1930
• City	January 1, 1958
Government [5]
• Mayor	Gerald Aalbers
• Governing body	Lloydminster City Council Jason Whiting Lorelee Marin David Lopez Michael Diachuk Glenn Fagnan Jonathan Torresan
• City Manager	Dion Pollard
• MP	Shannon Stubbs (C) Rosemarie Falk (C)
• MLA	Garth Rowswell (AB, UCP) Colleen Young (SK, SP)
Area  (2021)[6][7]
• Land	42.04 km2 (16.23 sq mi)
Elevation [8]	645 m (2,116 ft)
Population  (2021)[6][7]
• Total	31,582  – 19,739 (AB)  – 11,843 (SK)
• Density	751.2/km2 (1,946/sq mi)
• Municipal census (2015)	31,377[9]  – 19,740 (AB)  – 11,637 (SK)
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (MDT)
Forward sortation areas	T9V (AB), S9V (SK)
Area code(s)	780, 587, 825, 368 (AB) 306, 639 (SK)
Website	lloydminster.ca

Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta^[3] and Saskatchewan.^[10][11] The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administration.

Located in the heart of Treaty 6, Lloydminster is the traditional homeland of the Plains Cree, Wood Cree, Dene, Saulteaux and homeland of the Métis.^[12]

History

Intended to be an exclusively British utopian settlement centred on the idea of sobriety, Lloydminster was founded in 1903 by the Barr Colonists, who came directly from the United Kingdom.^[13] At a time when the area was still part of the North-West Territories, the town was located astride the Fourth Meridian of the Dominion Land Survey. This meridian was intended to coincide with the 110° west longitude, although the imperfect surveying methods of the time led to the surveyed meridian being placed a few hundred metres (yards) west of this longitude.^[14]

The town was named for George Lloyd, an Anglican priest who would become Bishop of Saskatchewan in 1922. Lloyd was a strong opponent of non-British immigration to Canada. During a nearly disastrous immigration journey, which was badly planned and conducted,^[15] he distinguished himself with the colonists and replaced the Barr Colony's leader and namesake Isaac Montgomery Barr during the colonists' journey to the eventual townsite.^{[citation needed]}

The town developed rapidly: by 1904, there was a telegraph office as well as a log church; in 1905, the Lloydminster Daily Times started publication and the first train arrived on July 28.^[16] Its main north–south street, today named Meridian Avenue (or 50th Avenue), along which stores, businesses and the post office began locating, was situated right on the Fourth Meridian, although the actual road right-of-way was located in Saskatchewan.^{[citation needed]} To comply with temperance principles, alcohol was not available in Lloydminster for the first few years after its founding.^{[citation needed]}

While provincehood of some sort for the prairie territories was seen as inevitable by 1903, it had been widely expected^{[by whom?]} that only one province would eventually be created instead of two. The colonists were not aware of the federal government's deep-rooted opposition to the creation of a single province nor plans for a provincial boundary along the Fourth Meridian (110° W).^{[citation needed]}

When the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created in 1905, the Fourth Meridian was selected as the border, bisecting the town right along its main street.^[17] Lloydminster residents petitioned for the new border to be revised so as to encompass the entire town within Saskatchewan, without success.^{[citation needed]} Lloydminster functioned as two towns with separate municipal administrations until the provincial governments agreed in 1930 to amalgamate the towns into a single town under shared jurisdiction. The provinces, again jointly, reincorporated Lloydminster as a city in 1958.^[17]

Commemorating Lloydminster's distinctive bi-provincial status, a monument consisting of four 100-foot survey markers was erected in 1994 near the city's downtown core.^[18]

The majority of Lloydminster's population lived on the Saskatchewan side until recent^[when?] decades; in the 2011 Canadian Census, nearly two-thirds of the city's population lived on the Alberta side. In 2000, the city hall and municipal offices were moved from Saskatchewan to an Alberta location on Meridian Avenue, also known as 50th Avenue, which runs along the Fourth Meridian.^{[citation needed]}

Despite its bi-provincial status, Lloydminster was not exempted from anti-smoking legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. Citizens responded by initiating a referendum against the wishes of the mayor, as permitted in the charter, which resulted in the enactment of a citywide anti-smoking bylaw. The matter became moot when Alberta enacted its own anti-smoking legislation, which was the solution that the mayor and council preferred.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

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The provincial border runs north to south, falling directly on 50th Avenue (Meridian Avenue) in the centre of Lloydminster. Meridian Avenue north of the Yellowhead Highway (also named 44th Street) remains the main downtown street for stores, offices and businesses, with some also located on the intersecting east–west streets. Addresses east of 50th Avenue are considered to be in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan and addresses west of 50th Avenue are considered to be in Lloydminster, Alberta. The city is bordered by the County of Vermilion River, Alberta, on the west, the Rural Municipality (R.M.) of Britannia No. 502, Saskatchewan, on the northeast and the R.M. of Wilton No. 472, Saskatchewan, on the southeast. The majority of the large retail properties serving the city, including larger stores, gas stations and hotels, are located in its Alberta portion, in particular along the Yellowhead Highway west of Meridian Avenue and along the Alberta side of 50th Avenue south of the Yellowhead Highway.

Lloydminster's distinctive situation is reflected in other legal matters, including its time zone. Most of Saskatchewan does not observe daylight saving time, instead staying on Central Standard Time year-round. However, Alberta mandates daylight saving time. Lloydminster's charter allows the city to follow Alberta's use of daylight saving time on both sides of the provincial border in order to keep all clocks within the city in synchronisation. This has the effect of placing Lloydminster and the surrounding area in the Mountain Time Zone along with Alberta. During the summer therefore, the entire city is on UTC−06:00—Mountain Daylight Time, which is the same as the rest of Saskatchewan where the time is defined as Central Standard Time.^[19] During the winter, Lloydminster is on Mountain Standard Time with the rest of Alberta, which is UTC−07:00,^[20] and is therefore one hour behind the time in the rest of Saskatchewan.

The provincial line divides the city in two aspects related to communications. Telephones on the Saskatchewan side are assigned to area codes 306 and 639, the two area codes assigned to that province, while land lines on the Alberta side have numbers in the 780 and 587 area codes, the two area codes assigned to northern Alberta. Similarly, Saskatchewan addresses have a postal code with a forward sortation area designation (first three characters) of "S9V", and addresses in Alberta have postal codes beginning with "T9V". All postal codes in Canada beginning with the letter "S" are assigned to Saskatchewan, and those beginning with "T" belong to Alberta.

Climate

Lloydminster experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb), which approaches a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) due to May and September being only marginally above 10 °C (50 °F). Winters are long, cold and dry, while summers are short, warm and moderately wet. Year-round precipitation is fairly low, with an average of 408 mm (16.06 in), whilst the dry winters restrict snowfall to 98 cm (38.6 in).

The highest temperature ever recorded in Lloydminster was 38.1 °C (100.6 °F) on 12 July 2002.^[21] The coldest temperature ever recorded was −50.0 °C (−58.0 °F) on 13 January 1911.^[22]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Alberta portion of the City of Lloydminster had a population of 19,739 living in 7,636 of its 8,530 total private dwellings, a change of 0.5% from its 2016 population of 19,645. With a land area of 23.98 km² (9.26 sq mi), it had a population density of 823.1/km² (2,131.9/sq mi) in 2021.^[50] The Saskatchewan portion of Lloydminster had a population of 11,843 living in 4,443 of its 5,002 total private dwellings, a change of 0.7% from its 2016 population of 11,765. With a land area of 18.06 km² (6.97 sq mi), it had a population density of 655.8/km² (1,698.4/sq mi) in 2016.^[7] Overall, the entire City of Lloydminster had a population of 31,582 living in 12,079 of its 13532 total private dwellings, a change of 0.5% from its 2016 population of 31,410. With a land area of 42.04 km² (16.23 sq mi), it had a population density of 751.2/km² (1,945.7/sq mi) in 2016.^[6][7]

In the 2016 Census of Population, the Alberta portion of the City of Lloydminster had a population of 19,645 living in 7,444 of its 8,444 total private dwellings, a change of 8.9% from its 2011 population of 18,032. With a land area of 24.04 km² (9.28 sq mi), it had a population density of 817.2/km² (2,116.5/sq mi) in 2016.^[49] Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan portion of Lloydminster had a population of 11,765 living in 4,392 of its 4,909 total private dwellings, a change of 20.4% from its 2011 population of 9,772. With a land area of 18.28 km² (7.06 sq mi), it had a population density of 643.6/km² (1,666.9/sq mi) in 2016.^[51] Overall, the entire City of Lloydminster had a population of 31,410 living in 11,836 of its 13,353 total private dwellings in the 2016 Census of Population, a change of 13% from its 2011 population of 27,804. With a land area of 42.32 km² (16.34 sq mi), it had a population density of 742.2/km² (1,922.3/sq mi) in 2016.^[49][51]

The City of Lloydminster's 2015 municipal census counted a population of 31,377,^[52] a change of −0.3% from its 2013 municipal census population of 31,483.^[9] Of the 31,377 residents, 19,740 (63%) lived on the Alberta side and 11,637 (37%) lived on the Saskatchewan side.^[9]

There are substantial demographic differences between the populations on each side of the border, with the population on the Saskatchewan side being substantially younger; the median age on the Saskatchewan side is 26.6,^[53] nearly seven years less than the median age of 33.2 on the Alberta side. Even when combining the median ages for both sides of the city, Lloydminster has the youngest median age in all of Canada.^[54][55] Also, the specific age group of 20–24 is much more concentrated on the Saskatchewan side. The two sides of the city have virtually identical numbers of people in that age group (1,220 in Saskatchewan,^[53] 1,230 in Alberta^[54]) even though the total population on the Alberta side is nearly twice that of the Saskatchewan side. This situation has been attributed in part to differential car insurance rates for drivers; because Saskatchewan has a public auto insurance system while Alberta relies on conventional private insurance, young drivers with the highest insurance rates can save thousands of dollars by living in Saskatchewan rather than Alberta.^[56]

The census agglomeration of Lloydminster includes both parts of the city, as well as the rural municipality of Wilton No. 472, the town of Lashburn, and the village of Marshall, Saskatchewan.

Language

About 94% of residents identified English as their first language. More than 1.4% of the population identified French as their first language, while 0.8% identified German, 0.7% identified Ukrainian, and 0.5% identified Cree as their first language learned. The next most common languages were Chinese and Spanish at about 0.3% each.^[57]

Ethnicity

More than 8% of residents identified themselves as aboriginal at the time of the 2006 census.^[58]