Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta[3] and Saskatchewan.

[12] 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.

[16] 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.

[citation needed] To comply with temperance principles, alcohol was not available in Lloydminster for the first few years after its founding.

[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.

[19] Lloydminster residents petitioned for the new border to be revised so as to encompass the entire town within Saskatchewan, without success.

[19] 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.

decades; in the 2011 Canadian Census, nearly two-thirds of the city's population lived on the Alberta side.

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.

The city is bordered by the County of Vermilion River, Alberta, on the west, the Rural Municipality (R.M.)

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.

This has the effect of placing Lloydminster and the surrounding area in the Mountain Time Zone along with Alberta.

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).

[58] The census agglomeration of Lloydminster includes both parts of the city, as well as the rural municipality of Wilton No.

[74] Lloydminster's bi-provincial status has resulted in special provisions regarding provincial taxation within the city limits.

Other differences surrounding interprovincial costs are reflected within the treatment of automobile insurance, and housing taxes.

[76] In 2013, an independent report found that Lloydminster was underserved by health care services in comparison to similar catchment areas in Alberta.

[76] Due to health data privacy laws in both provinces, the Lloydminster Hospital does not have direct access to AHS patient records, which have led to Alberta-based patients sometimes bringing their own paper records or receiving diagnostic tests a second time.