Medicine Hat

City in southeast Alberta, Canada, 290 km/180 mi southeast of Calgary, on the South Saskatchewan River; population (2006) 62,200. It lies on the Canadian Pacific Railway transcontinental main line and the Trans-Canada Highway. A trade centre for cattle, wheat, and vegetable producers, it also has clay and natural gas deposits. Local industries produce petrochemicals, glass, brick, tile, and pottery. The city has flour mills, canneries, breweries, and a Goodyear tyre factory as well. It maintains Alberta's ranching tradition with the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede, an annual rodeo first held in 1887.

Medicine Hat was founded in 1883 as a Canadian Pacific Railway tent town and North West Mounted Police post. It was incorporated as a town in 1899 and became a city in 1906. In 1991 it was the fifth-largest city in Alberta.

Medicine Hat College (1965) is affiliated with the University of Calgary. Tourist attractions include the Clay Products Interpretive Centre (1994) and Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery (1988).