Skip to main content

#JustCurious Why is Lloydminster in two provinces?

Share

Lloydminster has the distinction of being the only city in Canada to straddle two provinces, but why?

Anglican colonists from Britain settled Lloydminster in 1903. Their goal was to found an alcohol-free utopia on the plains of western Canada.

There were no Provincial boundaries at that time and the settlers laid down their main street along 110 degrees west latitude. That’s the fourth of the eight landmark meridians that the Dominion Land Survey used to map the country.

Two years later, Lloydminster was caught in the middle when Saskatchewan and Alberta were founded.

The town lobbied for a little while to be put over the border into Saskatchewan but their bid was unsuccessful. There was a 25-year period where Lloydminster existed as two cities. The west was Lloydminster, Alberta. The east was Lloydminster, Sask.

In 1903, the two Provinces agreed to share custody of the border city.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Here's why provinces aren't following Saskatchewan's lead on the carbon tax home heating fight

After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.

Stay Connected