Medicine Hat strives to achieve its vision as a "community of choice", a place where people come to live, work and play. We have much to offer and our quality of life is abundant in so many respects.
We boast an excellent climate - Medicine Hat's climate is semi-arid and characterized by dry, hot summers; and the warm chinook winds that blow during the winter months are responsible for our mild winters.
The average temperature for July is 23 C (73.4 F).
January temperatures average -12 C (9.3 F).
Mean rainfall is 230 millimetres (8.7 inches) per year.
Hatters enjoy a quality of life that is hard to match with the best people, location and natural resources available. A quality of life indicators survey conducted in 2007 asked residents to respond to several open-ended questions that related to what they liked most about living in
Medicine Hat.
What respondents liked most (in descending order) was:
- The small town / small city feel
- The size
- The people
- The city in general
- Accessibility (convenient to get around)
A recent Medicine Hat Police Services survey indicated Hatter’s satisfaction with the safety of the city is very high and satisfaction with their encounters, interaction and relationships with the police service and felt comfortable in their handling of crime.
Medicine Hat's population of 61,097 (2009 City Census), has resulted in a tremendous growth in our economy. It's an exciting time to live in Medicine Hat with new business and retail stores springing up almost overnight and a residential growth that shows little sign of slowing. The addition of Costco and a new Super Walmart to the retail market along with a mix of cultural restaurants and unique stores and boutiques throughout the city, offer Hatters and the regional community a little of everything.
Medicine Hat is one of the only cities in the world that owns and manages its own electric and gas utility. Built on a massive natural gas field, Medicine Hat has been providing residents and businesses of the city with natural gas since 1904. In addition, a percentage of the revenue for the utilities is given back to the residents as dividends in the form of some of the lowest utility and property tax rates in the country.
Medicine Hat has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. Thanks to the large base of natural gas and oilfield activity Medicine Hat continues to prosper.
This has resulted in a growth in the retail sector of the city as well as the housing market. The housing market has continued to increase as many other communities start to see a slow down in the building market and land development.
Medicine Hat residents have more recreational facilities per capita than most other cities in Canada. We offer superior recreational facilities, more than 92 kilometres (57 miles) of hiking/biking trails and 250 hectares (618 acres) of parks. There are six first-class golf courses, three indoor and four outdoor pools, six indoor ice arena's, indoor and outdoor waterslides, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, skateboard park and BMX track. If you enjoy ice, water or sun, there's a sport for every season.
For the avid hockey sports fan, Medicine Hat is home to the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League.
Three private campgrounds and one municipally operated campground provide a full range of facilities (224 camping sites). All of the campgrounds offer access to the regional trail system, the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) and Highway #3 providing visitors with safe and easy access to many of the city's major parks, attractions and businesses.
Medicine Hat is 45 minutes from Cypress Hills Provincial Park. Cypress Hills is one of the few areas in the southeast untouched by the glacial period. The Park offers superb recreational amenities including boating, hiking and skiing. The park is a great place to spend a weekend camping!
The Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre, a multi-million dollar project, officially opened its doors on October 22, 2005. The Esplanade brings together our museum, archives and art gallery, as well as adds a new performing arts theatre and discovery centre all under one roof. The Esplanade is a place for everyone - a community centre at the centre of the community - where we celebrate and showcase the spirit of Medicine Hat.
Nightlife, dining and shopping are other great traditional activities that are widely enjoyed. Medicine Hat also has 3 shopping malls: the Medicine Hat Mall, South View Centre and the Medicine Hat Co-op Mall. The City also has several power centres such as the Real Canadian Superstore, Costco, Wal-Mart, London Drugs, Winners, The Bay, Sears, Zellers, Canadian Tire, SportCheck, Home Depot, Totem Building Supplies, Leon’s Furniture, Rona Home Centres and Staples.
Medicine Hat has a healthy, safe and energetic downtown with over 200 businesses and services including jewelers, clothing stores, legal and accounting professionals, drugstores, movie theatres and many fine restaurants and hotels. Downtown Medicine Hat has maintained its historic charm with antique gas lamps and brick sidewalks. The beautiful downtown district is attractive to customers whose patronage keeps the downtown shops thriving.
The strength of the combination of manufacturing, service, agriculture and the economic benefits associated with this supports a strong and expanding retail sector in Medicine Hat. Canadian Forces Base Suffield contributes about $126 million annually to the region's economy through payrolls in military and civilian personnel and the purchases of goods and services.
Some of the largest retail and service sector employees includes supermarkets, department stores, food services, banks and credit unions, and places offering accommodations and lodging, municipal, provincial and federal government agencies, hospitals and school divisions.
FIRE PROTECTION
The Medicine Hat Fire Department operates from three stations. The significant accomplishment of the completion of Gershaw Drive Fire Station #3, brought along approximately 20 new firefighters to the force. The new fire station saves more than $8,600 annually in energy costs because of the environmental design efficiencies, such as energy efficient 'Low E' glass windows, solar panels for supplementary hot water heating, motion detecting sensors for lighting and low volume water use toilets. [Tel: (403)529-8282 or call 911 for emergencies]
POLICE SERVICES
The Medicine Hat Police Service has 95 officers. After completing a feasibility study, the Police Service purchased Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for police vehicles and in 2007 the AED's were purchased for all City of Medicine Hat facilities. Statistics show that AEDs increase the survival rate from cardiac arrest. [Tel: (403) 529-8400 or call 911 for emergencies].
AMBULANCE SERVICES
Ambulance service is provided through the Palliser Health Region. For further information please contact (403) 529-8000 or call 911 for emergencies.
HEALTH CARE
The Medicine Hat region is served by the Palliser Health Region, which provide acute care, continuing care and community health services. Medicine Hat has excellent health facilities, including the 325 bed Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.
Approximately 31 family physicians and 47 specialists are practicing in Medicine Hat. Specialists and facilities in Calgary and Edmonton are also readily accessible by the Palliser Health Region
A number of private and public nursing homes for the elderly and dependent are operational in the community.
Social services in Medicine Hat are provided through the Family and Social Services Department of the Provincial Government, the Social Work Department at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital and a number of voluntary agencies. If you wish to obtain more information please call (403)528-5663.
VITAL SIGNS REPORT CARD
Medicine Hat Community Foundation offers an exciting initiative launched in 2007. Medicine Hat's Vital Signs is a graded report card that evaluates the quality of life in Medicine Hat.
This community check-up will provide information that measures the health of our city, identifies trends and assigns grades in a number of key areas that are critical to Medicine Hat's vitality. Information included in the report will be gathered in cooperation with numerous sources that are researching and collecting data on, and are representative of, Medicine Hat.