Nestled in the Battle River Valley of east-central Alberta, Hardisty sits near the intersection of Highway 13 and Highway 881, roughly 111 kilometres west of the Saskatchewan border. The town is part of Flagstaff County and has long served as a notable point along what was once a key Canadian Pacific Railway corridor connecting Winnipeg to Edmonton by way of Wetaskiwin, Camrose, Daysland, Strome, and Lougheed.
Hardisty traces its origins to around 1904, when CPR surveyors selected the site as a divisional point, drawn by the reliable water supply offered by the nearby Battle River. The surrounding valley had previously been home to First Nations peoples, particularly Cree and Blackfoot groups who were drawn to the region by its abundant wildlife, including buffalo, moose, elk, and deer. By 1906 the settlement had grown into a hamlet, and an influx of railway construction workers briefly turned it into something of a tent town before permanent lumber buildings took shape along the rail line. It officially became a town in 1911 and was named in honour of Senator Richard Hardisty. Today, Hardisty is widely recognised as a significant petroleum hub, home to a large tank farm and a nexus of oil pipelines where products such as Western Canada Select blended crude oil and Hardisty heavy oil are produced and traded. Farming also remains an important part of the local economy. According to the 2021 Census, the town had a population of 548 people living across 247 occupied private dwellings, with a land area of 4.5 square kilometres and a population density of roughly 121.8 people per square kilometre.