YozoraAtlas

Where can you see the northern lights in Canada?

228 of the 235 places on Yozora Atlas in Canada see the northern lights on their northern horizon in a storm of Kp 7 or less. 12 lie under the aurora’s usual ring, Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve among them, where it shows on almost any clear, dark night. At the southern edge, in Toronto, it takes a strong storm (Kp 7), about 5 nights a year. Those are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them.

Kp 0 to 2Kp 3Kp 4Kp 5Kp 6Kp 7Kp level that brings the aurora to the northern horizon; faint dots need more than Kp 7
Night-lights map of Canada with every place colored by the storm strength it needs to see the northern lights
  • Kp 0 to 2under the ring12 placesalmost every night
  • Kp 3an unsettled night6 places~169 nights a year
  • Kp 4an active night28 places~79 nights a year
  • Kp 5a minor storm50 places~37 nights a year
  • Kp 6a moderate storm84 places~12 nights a year
  • Kp 7a strong storm48 places~5 nights a year

Which parts of Canada see the northern lights most often?

Each province with the Kp range of its places, the nights a year its best place reaches that level, and the darkest place to watch from.

State or regionPlacesKp neededNights a yearDarkest place to watch from
Northwest Territories3Kp 0 to 1365 nightsThaidene Nëné National Park ReserveBortle 2, Kp 0
Yukon2Kp 0 to 2365 nightsTombstone Territorial ParkBortle 2, Kp 0
Alberta25Kp 1 to 6341 nightsWood Buffalo National ParkBortle 2, Kp 1
Saskatchewan11Kp 1 to 5341 nightsAthabasca Sand Dunes Provincial ParkBortle 2, Kp 1
Manitoba6Kp 2 to 5262 nightsPisew Falls Provincial ParkBortle 2, Kp 2
Ontario50Kp 2 to 7262 nightsPolar Bear Provincial ParkBortle 2, Kp 2
British Columbia72Kp 2 to 7252 nightsMuncho Lake Provincial ParkBortle 2, Kp 2
Newfoundland and Labrador8Kp 3 to 6184 nightsthe Mealy MountainsBortle 2, Kp 3
Quebec32Kp 4 to 695 nightsAnticosti National ParkBortle 2, Kp 4
New Brunswick11Kp 5 to 740 nightsMount Carleton Provincial ParkBortle 3, Kp 5

The darkest places in Canada to watch the northern lights

The towns in Canada where the northern lights show most often

  1. Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve Northwest Territories · Bortle 2 · Kp 0365 nights
  2. Tombstone Territorial Park Yukon · Bortle 2 · Kp 0365 nights
  3. Nááts'įhch'oh National Park Reserve Northwest Territories · Bortle 2 · Kp 1342 nights
  4. Nahanni National Park Reserve Northwest Territories · Bortle 2 · Kp 1342 nights
  5. Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Park Saskatchewan · Bortle 2 · Kp 1341 nights
  6. Wood Buffalo National Park Alberta · Bortle 2 · Kp 1341 nights
  7. Polar Bear Provincial Park Ontario · Bortle 2 · Kp 2262 nights
  8. Pisew Falls Provincial Park Manitoba · Bortle 2 · Kp 2262 nights
  9. Lac La Ronge Provincial Park Saskatchewan · Bortle 2 · Kp 2262 nights
  10. Muncho Lake Provincial Park British Columbia · Bortle 2 · Kp 2252 nights
  1. Fort McMurray Alberta · Kp 2262 nights
  2. Grande Prairie Alberta · Kp 3155 nights
  3. Saskatoon Saskatchewan · Kp 487 nights
  4. Prince George British Columbia · Kp 479 nights
  5. St. Albert Alberta · Kp 479 nights
  6. Red Deer Alberta · Kp 479 nights
  7. Sherwood Park Alberta · Kp 479 nights
  8. Edmonton Alberta · Kp 479 nights
  9. Thunder Bay Ontario · Kp 537 nights
  10. Medicine Hat Alberta · Kp 537 nights

Nights a year since 1932 with the Kp level the place needs, between 9 pm and 3 am. These are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them, and away from the far north a display is often a faint glow low in the north that a phone camera shows better than the eye. From inside a town only bright displays show through the glow: each town page names the closest dark spot without the town in its northern sky.

When are the northern lights most likely in Canada?

Averaged over the 228 places, the most nights with a strong enough storm during darkness come in March and September: geomagnetic storms are more frequent around the equinoxes, and the nights are long enough to see them. In June 10 of the 228 places have no night dark enough, the sun staying less than 12° below the horizon. Clouds are not counted here; each place page has its clear nights by month.

3.1Jan3.5Feb4.5Mar4.2Apr2.9May1.8Jun2.1Jul3.5Aug4.4Sep4.3Oct3.5Nov2.9Dec

How the Kp levels and night counts for Canada are worked out

The aurora forms in a ring around the magnetic north pole, and the stronger a geomagnetic storm, the further south it reaches. Storm strength is measured by the Kp index, from 0 (quiet) to 9 (extreme). For each place the Kp level comes from its magnetic latitude, using the rule NOAA uses: the edge of the aurora sits at 66.5° magnetic latitude at Kp 0 and about 2° further south per step. It can be off by one level, and a phone camera often shows a display the eye barely sees. How often that level was reached comes from the Kp record of GFZ Potsdam, 1932 to 2025. None of this is a forecast: for tonight, see Space Weather Canada. How it works