Canada Wildlife Holidays

Whales, orcas, polar bears and grizzly bears are just some of the highlights of our wildlife holidays in Canada. Where the boreal forests meet the tundra and the mountains meet the sea this huge land offers stunning wilderness and natural experiences from coast to coast.

Travelling in Canada is easy and Canucks welcoming and warm people. A good aviation network means remote destinations can be reached by either scheduled aircraft or chartered floatplanes. However, most of the holidays requested are self-drive tours through British Columbia and sometimes Alberta. Less often we get travellers wanting to visit Quebec and the east coast, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, where there are some great wildlife experiences to be found. Others will fly up to Churchill, Manitoba for the polar bear safaris during the short summer months when they are out on the flower-filled tundra or in early winter when the snows have arrived yet Hudson Bay has not yet frozen and the polar bears remain on solid land.

The most popular destination by far is Vancouver Island, easily reached from cosmopolitan Vancouver and with a good choice of lodges and hotels. On the Pacific coast, you will find the small towns of Ucluelet and Tofino, the latter being a base for whale watching and walks on lonely beaches. On the inner, more sheltered side of Vancouver Island, it is possible to search for resident orca pods and humpback whales from places like Campbell River and Telegraph Cove, in the waters between the island and the mainland coast of BC. This coast is also the stepping off point for float planes into a bear watching and wildlife lodges although flights to some lodges can be taken directly from Vancouver. Several days in at one of these lodges, particularly in June or September when the grizzly bears are most active, are memorable wildlife days. The number of lodges set in the deep fjords along this protected coast is increasing annually, each offering slightly different experiences and you should be careful in choosing a lodge to meet your expectations.

For those who like their wilderness and wildlife then we would recommend flying into one of the remote lodges in the interior of BC or further north in the Yukon.