A City That's Half In Alberta & Half In Saskatchewan Is In Limbo Over COVID-19 Rules

Once Canadian city is in a serious pickle when it comes to enforcing provincial COVID-19 restrictions. As COVID-19 cases fluctuate across the entire country, some provinces are beginning to ease up restrictions earlier than others. Saskatchewan announced on Thursday, April 23 that they will begin opening up businesses on May 4. However, Alberta hasn't announced any lifting of restrictions so far. So the city of Lloydminster, which is split between both the provinces, is in limbo. 

Lloydminster's Mayor, Gerald Aalbers, told CTV News that there are businesses on both sides, from salons to massage parlours, chiropractors to doctors. "The whole nine yards," he said. 

Although the city has one single municipality, business licensing requirements differ by province. This is why the city administration is working with emergency management officials to develop recommendations. 

The recommendations about how the city is going to tackle this situation will be released in the coming days. 

The city has maintained the health and safety of its residents are of the "utmost importance," and any decision made will have to reflect that. 

This is a pretty unique situation and officials are trying to figure out what the best approach is. At this point, the main focus is on health and safety.  

"The City of Lloydminster continues its discussions with both provincial governments and their respective health authorities to assess the plan’s impacts at the local level," the city explained in a recent statement. 

The city is currently under a state of emergency. 

So they're going to have to make sure that any changes made to that local state of emergency "are in alignment" with both Alberta and Saskatchewan. 

Narcity spoke to Eric Healey, a spokesperson for the City of Lloydminster, who told us that the province is aware of its unique position as a border city and how decisions made by both governments affect the residents. 

"We do have a charter," he said.

The Lloydminster Charter determines which orders the city has to follow, depending on how they're declared by the provinces. 

Saskatchewan has a total of 326 confirmed COVID-19 cases, out of which 261 have already recovered. They will be opening up some businesses and services on May 4. 

Whereas Alberta beat a new record by confirming 319 new cases in just one day, as of April 23. The total number of cases is now 3720 for the whole province.