Perched at the intersection of Highway 16 (the Yellowhead Highway) and Highway 897, which links travellers northward to Cold Lake, the village of Kitscoty sits roughly midway along the corridor between Edmonton and Saskatoon – approximately 225 kilometres from the former and 295 kilometres from the latter. It also falls within easy commuting distance of Lloydminster, making it a practical base for workers in the region. The CN railway runs through the village as well, and Kitscoty serves as the home of the municipal office for the surrounding County of Vermilion River.
The area around Kitscoty welcomed its first settlers in 1905, and the community was incorporated as a village in 1911. In its early years, it functioned as a trading hub for a wide swath of territory stretching from Cold Lake in the north down to the Battle River in the south. The village takes its name from a famous ancient cromlech in England – a tripod arrangement of three large stones near a settlement known as Kit’s Coty House. Today, Kitscoty sits within a productive agricultural belt that also supports significant heavy oil activity, providing varied employment for local residents. According to the 2021 Census, the village had a population of 852 people living in 304 occupied private dwellings out of 335 total, spread across a land area of 1.51 square kilometres, giving it a population density of roughly 564 people per square kilometre. That figure represents a decline of about 7.9 percent from the 2016 Census population of 925. The village is served by both an elementary school and a junior/senior high school.