The window for aurora viewing is closing in southern Canada as solar activity declines.

Southern Canadians have occasionally experienced neon-drenched night skies of purple, pink and green during the sun’s peak activity over the past two years.

But as the Sun moves into the cool phase of its 11-year cycle, the celestial show put on by the Northern Lights will dim.

The best chance to see the dancing lights will be in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut. Ph.D. The north is where the auroral oval, the halo of light that surrounds the magnetic poles, is most visible, Ethan Sun said. University of Toronto’s David A. candidate in the Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

He said aurora displays will be rare in southern Canada, including parts of Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as solar activity declines.

The Sun goes through an explosive solar maximum and a low-activity solar minimum.

“Right now we’re only about a year and a half from the maximum,” he said. “Activity is falling now and will eventually reach a minimum around 2031. It’s still quite active because we’re still pretty high up in the cycle, but it’s on a downward trend.”

Solar maximum is characterized by an increase in coronal mass ejections, flares, sunspots and geomagnetic storms, resulting in a vivid display of the northern lights, Sun said.

But above the 60th parallel, he said auroras can be seen almost every night regardless of the sun’s activity.

The best time to see the aurora is between September and April, Sun said, with particularly bright shows around the spring and autumn equinoxes.

The auroral oval may also be losing some of the intensity seen over the past two years, he said. As solar activity subsides, the window for extreme viewing will also begin to shorten, he said.

“The extra color and extra movement usually happens when there’s some kind of storm going on.”

The Arctic sky is the most reliable theater on Earth for auroras.

Tourism Yukon market update 2024 And 2025 Reports have revealed that plans have been made to cash in on the sector “solar maximum“Between 2023 and 2025, the Northern Lights will be the key driver of tourists.

It also shows that tourists from the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and Australia are particularly interested in seeing the northern lights.

The government website shows the sector generated $484 million.attributed to tourism“In 2025.

Aaron Ratko, board member of the Wilderness Tourism Association of Yukon, said he has seen people coming during different seasons.

It’s possible that a tourist’s first visit to the Yukon is during the winter when temperatures are around -40 C and that person has come to experience the auroras, said Ratko, who also owns Northern Tales Travel Services, a tourism company.

“As repeat customers they come back and experience the aurora in the fall when you can wear a few less layers and try some different day trips,” he said.

“So they come back for Aurora, but I would say they’re mostly attracted to a variety of day trips or experiences.”

His company does not track Solar Max, he said. “I think this cycle is pushing the aurora further south and the aurora advertising (itself).”

Alex Stubing, CEO of Travel Nunavut, said the region doesn’t focus on the northern lights like the Northwest Territories and Yukon.

Tourists come to Nunavut to experience Inuit culture and heritage, and see the mountain ranges, landscapes and wildlife, he said.

“And yes, they can have good aurora viewing and good aurora experiences, but no travel is based around the aurora.”

As solar maximums diminish, and three areas emerge as prized aurora sites, Stubing said Nunavut will look to promote itself as a prime location for the northern lights.

In the Northwest Territories, the northern lights are visible almost nightly, with the government’s tourism website claiming that Yellowknife gets the northern lights up to 240 nights a year.

By 2023–2024, the Northern Lights are expected to attract approximately 41 percent of tourists to the NWT. Tourism in NWT Report.

Marie-Soleil Lacoursier, operations manager for Aurora Village, a tourism company in Yellowknife, said the northern lights are an important source of revenue for the areas.

They help small businesses like hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and tour operators fill up, he said.

The company also tracks the solar cycle, blogging about the waning solar maximum and how people can take advantage of the Northwest being one of the only areas to see the northern lights, said Hideo Nagatani, a senior advisor at Aurora Village.

Although changes in the sun’s cycle are noticeable, he said it doesn’t affect his business or customers too much.

“This is something unexpected and what they see is beyond what they expected,” he said.