With landscapes that blend from ice floes and subarctic wilderness into ancient rainforest and weather-beaten Atlantic coastline, Canada supports a host of wildlife as varied and intriguing as its scenery. Here are just 15 of the best animal encounters you can ethically have in Canada, from seeking out mysterious bears to wonderful whales. Remember, there are no guarantees when it comes to wildlife-viewing: the animals will be seen if they want to be, though staying quiet, still and a respectful distance away will better your chances. So, grab your binoculars and let’s go...
The Great Bear Rainforest is a storied swathe of primeval forest carpeting the upper coast of British Columbia. It encompasses a quarter of the world’s coastal temperate rainforest and is about the size of Ireland; there are no roads here, and the only way in and out is by boat or seaplane. This ethereal landscape has been the domain of bears for millennia, sustained by seasonal runs of plump salmon and other fish. Though grizzlies and black bears are far from unremarkable, there is one bear species in particular that captures the imagination in these parts...
The Kermode (or 'spirit') bear is actually a black bear with a rare recessive gene that turns its fur creamy-white – a phenomenon occurring in one animal per 10 that can only be found in the Great Bear Rainforest. Tales of these bears are intertwined with the histories and lives of First Nations peoples, some of whom guide week-long nature cruises with Bluewater Adventures in the hope of sharing the elusive spirit bear with visitors. Homalco Tours also offers one-day grizzly-viewing cruises with an Indigenous guide on the Bute Inlet fjord.
A one-hour drive from the artsy Francophone city of Montreal, Parc Omega is a safari-style park in the Outaouais region of Quebec where animals live in natural enclosures across a 2,200-acre site. You can either visit on a guided tour or in your own car; over nine miles of road (15km) intersect with prairie and forest habitats that nurture white-tailed deer, bears, beavers, racoons and boars. But for a truly unique experience in Parc Omega’s wilderness, you’ll want to bring your pyjamas...
As well as day visits, Parc Omega offers a once-in-a-lifetime sleepover experience with its regal wolf pack, the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else on the continent. Wolves have roamed Canada for thousands of years and two of their sub-species – Arctic and grey – can be seen at the park. There are a growing number of accommodation options set among the canines here, including the wolf cabin (pictured) which has huge picture windows for optimum wolf-watching potential.
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In Canada’s easternmost province, the world's largest concentration of humpback whales grace the ocean depths. Every year, typically between April and October, tens of thousands of these much-loved sea creatures migrate up from the Caribbean to spend their summers off Newfoundland and Labrador, feasting on krill, squid and capelin. In total, more than 20 different whale and dolphin species frequent these depths, from blue and orca to pilot and minke. While you can be lucky enough to spot them breaching and blowing from the land, there’s nothing quite like meeting them on the water.
There are a few different tour operators that offer whale-watching catamaran cruises off the coast of the province. Departing from the capital daily, the St John’s Whale Watch Cruise negotiates foreboding fields of 12,000-year-old icebergs to transport visitors past nesting puffin colonies in search of the highly anticipated humpbacks. At Bay Bulls, the family-run Gatherall’s Puffin and Whale Watch Cruise is one of the top-rated Newfoundland whale experiences on TripAdvisor, whisking passengers around the islands of Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. Kayak tours are possible too, for the slightly more adventurous.
Less than 100 people visit Ivvavik National Park each year, given its location in one of the most remote corners of Canada, near the border with Alaska. Meaning ‘a place for giving birth; a nursery,' in the language of the Inuvialuit First Nations people, Ivvavik is the first Canadian national park to be designated in recognition of an Indigenous land claim, and is named for the vital role it plays in the yearly Porcupine caribou migration.
Part of the national park on the Beaufort Sea coast protects a significant portion of the calving grounds of this caribou herd, who travel between the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska throughout spring and summer under the light of the midnight sun. It is the longest land mammal migration in the world, involving some 200,000 animals and around 1,500 miles (2,400km) of travel. Ivvavik cannot be accessed by road – visitors arrive by charter plane or helicopter, and are encouraged to book an Inuvialuit cultural host to understand best the symbiotic relationship between this land, its people and the herd.
One of the four provinces that make up Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia is prime sea-life-viewing territory for those happy to get out on the water. Offering a ‘Paddle to the Seals’ sea-kayak tour each morning (among other half-day, full-day and multi-day excursions), Pleasant Paddling escorts visitors through narrow passageways between the islands of idyllic fishing community Blue Rocks, where seals, seabirds and porpoises are often spotted in and amongst the secluded coves and shoals.
Elsewhere, the Bird Islands are an official bird sanctuary just off Cape Dauphin, home to puffins, kittiwakes, cormorants, razorbills and other seabirds, as well as bald eagles, belted kingfishers, herons and seals. Bird Island Boat Tours and Donelda’s Bird Island Puffin Tours both provide seasonal daily sails on a covered boat with removable windows, making them perfect for passionate wildlife photographers.
With their buck teeth, little hard-working paws and paddle-like tails swinging from side to side as they walk, it’s hard not to fall in love with beavers. The engineering prowess of the largest rodent in North America is well-documented, with the biggest beaver dam ever built even being visible from space. It lies in Alberta’s Wood Buffalo National Park, which is just one of the spots where wild beavers thrive in the province, along with wood bison, wolves and whooping cranes.
Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains is also home to a number of beaver colonies, though they aren’t always the most obliging animals to find in their natural habitat, especially as they’re nocturnal. One of your best bets is to come out at sunrise or sunset along the Fenland Trail, a circular walking route that takes about an hour to complete. The overgrown marshland in the area can sometimes make visibility a little tricky, so remember to pack your binoculars or a camera with a long zoom lens.
Frontiers North Adventures is a pioneer of ‘conservation journeys’, which combine up-close wildlife experiences with educational outreach. On the beluga conservation journey, you’ll travel Churchill’s coastal waters with a leading marine mammal scientist and visit the warm shallows where beluga whales come to give birth and feed. Partial proceeds from all of Frontier North’s conservation journeys are donated to research programmes and further conservation projects. New for summer 2023, Lazy Bear Expeditions has acquired a new tour boat with underwater viewing windows for a truly unique beluga-watching experience.
While grizzly bears are more typically associated with Alaska or British Columbia, the opportunity to see them at Bear Cave Mountain in the northern Yukon Territory is about as exclusive as it gets. Grizzlies arrive in their droves each autumn to Ni’iinlii’njik (Fishing Branch) Territorial Park to take advantage of the geothermally-heated river, which is warmed as thermal springs seep into the limestone of its bed. This naturally filters and oxygenates the water, creating the ideal environment for salmon eggs to thrive.
The result? Up to 50 bears descending on the river for the ultimate, all-you-can-eat salmon banquet. But that’s not where the spectacle ends. As the air starts to cool towards the end of September, the grizzlies emerge from the toasty river and turn into 'ice bears'; their wet fur freezing where they stand, dusting them in white. Due to the short window of opportunity nature permits to see these bears, you may need to book this experience three years in advance.
Is there an animal more synonymous with Canada than the moose? They live in almost every region of the country, except for Vancouver Island and the Arctic beyond, but the place where it’s easiest to find them in the wild is Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park. This protected area, dappled with maple trees, vast lakes and dramatic canyons, has a moose population of between 2,500 and 4,500, best observed during the spring when they feed on fresh foliage.
There’s a reason the Atlantic puffin is Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial bird. Around 95% of all of North America’s puffin population breed on its rugged shores, and there’s nowhere you’re more likely to see them for yourself than Elliston. Located on the Bonavista Peninsula, and one of 10 geosites that make up the Discovery UNESCO Global Geopark, Elliston is home to hundreds of these colourful and comical characters. At Elliston Puffin Site, you’ll find one of the most easily accessible spots on the continent for viewing Canada’s favourite auk.
The prairie bison was almost lost entirely in Canada, having been hunted to near-extinction by the 1870s. But there are a number of places across Saskatchewan where herds can be found today, including both of the province's national parks – Grasslands, where they were reintroduced in 2005, and Prince Albert, where they have always been. The West Block of Grasslands, as well as being the only natural habitat in Canada for the black-tailed prairie dog, is home to the park’s free-roaming bison population.
These animals were gone – then conservations brought them back
There are no guided wildlife tours at Grasslands National Park, but visitors can take the Ecotour Scenic Drive or the Timbergulch Trail on foot to find the herd (keep a distance of at least 328 feet/100m). Elsewhere in the province, Wanuskewin Heritage Park has its own clan of bison, who welcomed their first calf in 2020 – the first time a baby bison had been born on this land since 1876. Wanuskewin has been a gathering place for all nations of the Northern Plains for over 6,400 years, and its present bison herd are all descendants of the last 1,000 bison to roam the prairies.
Sometimes referred to as the unicorn of the sea, narwhals have become so fabled that it’s easy to doubt they exist at all. But, though elusive, they are very much real and – if you’re in the right place at the right time – they can be seen in the Canadian Arctic during their spring-summer migration. Firstly, you have to meet them on their terms, which means taking to the floe edge (where open water meets icy shore) with a responsible tour operator. Arctic Kingdom is one of the leading purveyors of narwhal safaris, taking passengers to this favoured hangout of the near-mythical beast.
Thaidene Nene became Canada’s newest national park reserve in 2019, its name meaning ‘land of the ancestors’ in the Denesuline Yati language. The park’s management is shared between Parks Canada and a coalition of First Nations peoples, with the area protecting the East Arm of the Great Slave Lake. Its 10,425 square miles (14,070 sqkm) of boreal forest tracts, waterways, primordial rocky landscape and Indigenous heartland is also a realm of spectacular wildlife, from grizzly bears to muskoxen – one of the oldest mammals to walk the world.
Explore the staggering beauty of Canada's national park reserves
Some of the best cultural and wildlife experiences in the park come courtesy of Red Cliff Adventures, owned and run by Lutsel K’e Dene Elder Ron Desjarlais. Packages include a wilderness camping adventure, where guests are invited to fish and hike with cultural commentary from Ron, and a scenic boat tour, where you’ll be able to spot wildlife from (and in) the water. No roads lead to Thaidene Nene, but you can arrive by air, watercraft or snowmobile.
Visible in British Colombia's Rivers Campbell, Adams, Goldstream and more, as well as numerous provincial parks in BC, this annual event entices hungry grizzlies and bald eagles with the promise of their best-loved meal. It can become a true feeding frenzy, with bears careening into waterfalls and tearing through streams while birds of prey swoop in from above, often fighting over the biggest fish. For that reason, it’s imperative to keep your distance when witnessing the salmon run.
Known as the polar bear capital of the world, Churchill lies on the shores of Hudson Bay, which freezes solid each winter. These gorgeous, formidable predators patrol the ice for seals and other potential snacks until the bay melts during spring and summer, and the bears are forced inland. There's a selection of reputable bear experiences operating out of Churchill throughout the year, including Indigenous-led walking tours with Churchill Wild and polar bear safaris on the Hudson Bay coast in the world’s first zero-emission EV Tundra Buggy with Frontiers North Adventures.
Frontiers North (as well as its beluga whale experience) offers a polar bear conservation journey during the autumn. Guests will meet a Polar Bears International scientist and get access to the Wildlife Management Area, where the season's highest concentration of polar bears can be found. Inuit-owned Sub-Arctic Tours specialises in intimate small-group tours, and Wat'chee Expeditions operates a lodge 40 miles (64km) south of Churchill that is open only for a short period every year – encounters with polar bear cubs and mums are said to be "virtually guaranteed” here.
Now read on for the best wildlife experiences around the world