8 Responses to “I’m visiting Canada in a year or two, I want to see the Northern Lights?”

1. 

   Randy B said on September 19th, 2009 at 11:20 pm

   Good luck. I’ve lived here all of my 45 years and only seen them a few times. They are visible mostly in the winter months and you need to be high enough north to see them. I never saw them in southern Ontario but I have seen them in Winnipeg and in Edmonton so make sure you are high enough north to even have a chance to see them and THEN you have to be lucky enough to have them showing when you are there.

2. 

   adamr81 said on September 22nd, 2009 at 10:59 am

   The best place to view the Northern Lights would not just be Alaska. All of Northern Canada has the same viewing opportunities of the lights. Since you would already be in Ontario your best bet would be going up to northern Ontario. To be able to view them you would have to travel at least 12 hours north, up near the Hudson Bay.

3. 

   Avis de J.J. / J.J's Advice said on September 23rd, 2009 at 9:19 am

   You probably won’t see any Northern Lights in Toronto, because Toronto is pretty southern, and there’s too much smog and light pollution.

   The only time I’ve ever seen the Northern Lights is when I took the train up north to Churchill, MB. That’s about a week of travelling from Toronto overland, or many hours of flying. You could also drive up to the Yukon or Northwest Territories. You might also have some luck in northern British Columbia.

   As for Alaska, it borders with Canada, so it’s 0 miles from Canada, bordering British Columbia and the Yukon Territories.
   From Toronto, it’s approximately 4000 (four thousand) miles to Anchorage or Fairbanks, Alaska (two largest cities).

4. 

   Karen L said on September 24th, 2009 at 11:53 am

   The further north the better, and fall/winter/spring are best, not least because once you start getting 18 hours and more of daylight as they do in summer in the far north, it hardly gets dark enough to see northern lights even if they’re there. I saw them once, faintly, from Toronto in late June, but that’s really really unusual.

   If I were you, I’d search things like ‘northern lights tours’, which will give you some info about the lights in general and about good places for viewing. It’s not very easy, and perhaps impossible, to get far enough north by driving, in the eastern parts of Canada, especially if winter is coming on.

   Do you mean how far from Alaska is Canada? Canada and Alaska border each other.

5. 

   chuckles951 said on September 25th, 2009 at 11:25 am

   You can see then in the countryside outside or Edmonton when it is extremely cold and the sky is free of clouds. In living in Edmonton for 20 years, I saw them exactly once, about 20 miles outside of the city when it was about 45 below. They were awesome though. And they make noise.

6. 

   Mateo said on September 26th, 2009 at 9:44 am

   It’s not really that Alaska is the best place to see them… it all depends on the latitude you are at. So any part of Canada that is on the same latitude with Alaska will see the same Northern Lights (roughly speaking).

   So by this logic, the best place to see them in Canada (and the world) would be in Ellesmere Island as that is the Earth’s most Northerly Island.

   Realistically, you are about 3000 to 4000 miles away from Ellesmere Island if you are visiting Southern Ontario. I dunno… you can’t see them great down there… although it is possible during or near the solstices.

   The best time to see them is near the winter or summer solstices. So near Dec. 21 or June 21 depending. however, since the sun shines all day long near the summer solstice in the far North, your best bet is to go up near the winter solstice.

   If you are in the South, it’s best to see them during the summer solstice (however, depending on where you are, you may have to stay up pretty late to see them as the sun sets pretty late that time of year).

   The more North you go, the better you will see them period.

   I also don’t understand your one quesiton. BC and the Yukon border Alaska, so technically it’s not many miles at all. From Toronto… it’s a few thousand miles to Alaska.

7. 

   Brandi said on September 29th, 2009 at 9:35 am

   Well, I live in Saskatchewan, and I have seen the Northern Lights more times than I can count, they are beautiful!
   They are the most visible on cold clear winter nights. I probably see them a few times a week in the winter months.

8. 

   Mr Canoe said on September 29th, 2009 at 1:16 pm

   1. Alaska, part of your country, borders Canada. You didn’t know that?

   2. Alaska is not the best place in the world to see the northern lights. The best (inhabited) place is Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories.

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