After graduating in 1883 with a degree in civil and mining engineering, he moved to Pennsylvania where he married Margaret Jane Kirkley two years later.
He was hired by the Alberta Railway & Coal Company in 1889 to work as an assistant to mines superintendent William Stafford.
He returned to Lethbridge in 1894 to work as mines superintendent with North Western Coal and Navigation Company.
Two years later, a commission form of civic government was instituted, and he became both mayor and commissioner of finance.
When the government became a managerial form in 1928 after great support from the electorate, Hardie's term as mayor ended.