Lloydminster is a city unlike any other in Canada — a true border town straddling the provincial line between Alberta and Saskatchewan. On the surface, it functions as one cohesive community. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find it’s a city caught in the crosshairs of inter-jurisdictional red tape.
Take, for example, the recent changes around food regulation. For decades, something as simple as a meat processor on the Saskatchewan side couldn’t legally sell its product across the street in Alberta. Thankfully, in November, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency updated its regulations to allow for the free flow of food within Lloydminster city limits. One trade barrier down. Dozens more to go.
Trucking in No-Man’s Land
One of the most significant ongoing challenges in Lloydminster is commercial transportation. Unlike the United States, where motor carriers operate under a single federal system, Canada allows each province to set its own rules. The result? A logistical nightmare for trucking companies that operate in and around Lloydminster.
Alberta allows two types of operating statuses for carriers: provincial and federal. A provincial carrier can only operate within Alberta, but has fewer regulatory burdens — no Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs), longer allowable driving hours, and fewer rest period restrictions. Federally regulated carriers, on the other hand, face tighter rules, including mandatory ELDs and 70-hour driving limits over 7 days.
This discrepancy creates a clear competitive advantage for provincial carriers. To patch the hole, Alberta and Saskatchewan created a policy allowing Alberta provincial carriers to operate on either side of Lloydminster under strict conditions:
"Services received or provided" include fuel, meals, accommodations, vehicle repairs, or loading/unloading — essentially any business activity. The only exemption? If those services are provided wholly within Lloydminster city limits. In other words, you can drive through the Saskatchewan side of town — just don’t buy gas, unload freight, or grab a sandwich.
This isn’t a policy designed to facilitate trade. It’s a policy for the sake of having a policy.
Enforcement is Here (and It’s Getting Expensive)
For years, enforcement of these complicated rules was minimal. But things are changing. Alberta has ramped up commercial vehicle enforcement, and Saskatchewan has responded with its own measures through the Saskatchewan Marshals Service.
The penalties are no joke. Operating without the correct Safety Fitness Certificate (SFC) in Alberta costs $324 — and that’s just the start. Add on the fine for not having an ELD, possible insurance implications, and violations noted on your carrier profile, and suddenly that “quick job” across the border becomes a costly mistake.
One can easily imagine a newly minted enforcement officer, fresh out of training, parking on the wrong side of Highway 17 and racking up ticket after ticket by stopping Alberta-plated trucks on the Saskatchewan side — or vice versa.
A Real Solution: Cooperation, Not Constriction
The current policy doesn’t help carriers, consumers, or the community. What Lloydminster needs is more than a border exemption — it needs true inter-jurisdictional trade cooperation. Alberta and Saskatchewan should work together to create a registrar’s exemption that allows businesses to operate freely and legally on both sides of the border, especially within the unique context of Lloydminster.
Instead, Alberta Transportation continues to take a reactive approach, crafting policies in response to problems instead of proactively solving them. It’s time for Alberta to step up and lead — not leave businesses stranded in a jurisdictional limbo. In an industry where every hour costs money — especially in oil and gas — these policy gaps aren’t just annoying. They’re expensive, inefficient, and completely unnecessary.
