Canada1,572 places
Northern Lights in Canada: Where and When to See Them
Parts of Canada lie right under the auroral oval: near Fort McMurray the aurora can appear on almost any clear, dark night. Near Fort McMurray, April has historically been the best month (57% of nights).
Featured destinations
Kp 0 Whitehorse
Yukon
Kp 0 Yellowknife
Northwest Territories
Kp 3.3 Banff
Alberta
Kp 0 Iqaluit
Nunavut
Kp 2 Jasper
Alberta
Kp 0 Inuvik
Northwest Territories
Kp 0 Dawson City
Yukon
Kp 0 Churchill
Manitoba
Where the aurora is easiest to see
| Place | Region | Kp needed | Kp for photos | Magnetic latitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort McMurray | Alberta | 0 | 0 | 63.6° |
| Whitehorse | Yukon | 0 | 0 | 63.2° |
| Yellowknife | Northwest Territories | 0 | 0 | 68.6° |
| Thompson | Manitoba | 0 | 0 | 64.2° |
| Iqaluit | Nunavut | 0 | 0 | 70.7° |
| Peace River | Alberta | 0 | 0 | 62.1° |
| Flin Flon | Manitoba | 0 | 0 | 62.9° |
| Norway House | Manitoba | 0 | 0 | 62.5° |
Largest cities
Live sightings
Where visitors are reporting the aurora right now. A place climbs with every report and drops again as the reports age.
- …
Latest reports
Regions of Canada
- OntarioKp 0.3+ · 236
- QuebecKp 0+ · 255
- British ColumbiaKp 0+ · 122
- AlbertaKp 0+ · 99
- Nova ScotiaKp 5+ · 48
- ManitobaKp 0+ · 28
- New BrunswickKp 4+ · 79
- SaskatchewanKp 0+ · 33
- Newfoundland and LabradorKp 0+ · 27
- Prince Edward IslandKp 4.7+ · 5
- Northwest TerritoriesKp 0+ · 7
- YukonKp 0+ · 3
- NunavutKp 0+ · 15
Practical information for Canada
- Emergency number
- 911
- Access to land
- There is no national right to roam; private land requires the owner's permission, while national/provincial parks and Crown land are generally accessible subject to park rules, which vary by province and territory.
- Winter driving
- Rules are provincial: Québec requires winter tyres (mountain-snowflake symbol or studded) on Québec-registered vehicles Dec 1–Mar 15, and BC requires winter tyres or chains on signed routes Oct 1–Mar 31 (to Apr 30 on mountain passes/high-snowfall routes); road conditions via 511 Yukon (511yukon.ca), DriveNWT (drivenwt.ca), 511 Alberta, Manitoba 511 (manitoba511.ca) and DriveBC. Road conditions
- Drones
- Drones of 250 g or more must be registered with Transport Canada and flown by a holder of a drone pilot certificate (Basic: online exam, age 14+); foreign pilots also need a Canadian certificate: https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/drone-safety
- Official space-weather service
- Space Weather Canada (Natural Resources Canada)
- Weather service
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (weather.gc.ca)
- Certified dark-sky places
- Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (Waterton Lakes NP, Alberta) · Bon Accord, Alberta · Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario · Mont-Mégantic, Québec · Parc national du Mont-Tremblant, Québec
Churchill, Manitoba has no road access (train from Winnipeg/Thompson or plane only); Travel Manitoba says aurora appears there on average about 300 nights a year, best Jan–Mar.
Jasper and Wood Buffalo are RASC dark sky preserves, not DarkSky International places, so they are excluded from the list above.
Compiled from official government, road-authority and weather-service sources. Rules change; check them before you travel.