Timing matters — and not just for booking a room. If you want to line up your trip with peak animal movement, here’s when and where to go.

Bears

• BC + Alberta (grizzlies): May–June (spring feeding), September (salmon runs)

• Manitoba (polar bears): October–November

• Ontario/Quebec (black bears): June–August

Moose

• Across the Boreal (ON, QC, NB): September–October is rut season

• Newfoundland: Also best in fall, especially around Gros Morne

Birds

• Waterfowl migration (Prairies): April–May, August–October

• Seabirds (Gulf of St. Lawrence): June–July

• Raptors (Rockies + East Coast): Fall flyways (late September)

Book the lodge, but plan the trip around the wildlife calendar — not the long weekend one.