Classic Canadian Tours

11/06/2024

Classic Canadian Tours has enjoyed a great Polar Bear Season so far, with good weather and plenty of Polar Bears. For a recap of the two Safaris in late October, listen to Brian Keatings' CBC clip at the link below.

https://classiccanadiantours.com/our_tours/churchillpolarbeartour/tour_stories

10/30/2024

It’s international Polar Bear week. Classic Canadian Tours kicked off the season this past weekend and enjoyed great weather and cooperative wildlife. The bears were plentiful and looked very healthy. We still have a couple of seats available for this Saturday, November 02nd.

06/08/2024

The Khutzeymateen never disappoints. The one-day adventure to the West Coast to view bears, whales, eagles, and other marine life is a Classic Canadian Tours favourite.

Listen to this broadcast segment on CBC with Brian Keating, one of Classic Canadian Tours' naturalists, to hear about the bears we encountered on our May 26th trip:

https://classiccanadiantours.com/our_tours/grizzly_bear_tour/tour_stories

04/22/2024

Enjoy this video that captures the experience of Classic Canadian Tours' one-day West Coast Grizzly Bear Tour. We are booking our spring tours to the Khutzeymateen with departures from Calgary on Sunday, May 26 and Edmonton on Sunday, June 9.

Here is a sneak peak of what to expect when you join us on one of our Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Tours. Our tours are known to be one of the best wildlife vi...

03/28/2024

Grizzly bears have a distinctive profile. Pointy snout, dramatic claws and that hump.

You might think that bulge is a fat deposit, but it’s a muscle which allows these bears to be powerful diggers. This spring, you can watch grizzlies at work on the clam beaches of the Khutzeymateen. Travel there with Classic Canadian tours on Sunday, May 26th from Calgary and Sunday, June 9th from Edmonton.

03/12/2024

A new crop of polar bear cubs. This map, updated just a few days ago shows the position of three tagged Western Hudson Bay females at their denning sites in Wapusk National Park, southeast of Churchill. (blue circles on land).

Happily, when these females emerged from their dens this year, they had cubs. Two had double cubs, one had triplets. Depending on the hunting skills of their mothers, these cubs should arrive in Churchill later this year. This photo shows a mum and her nine month old offspring taken last year.

Travel with Classic Canadian Tours to Churchill, Manitoba this October and November to view a portion of the life cycle of the Western Hudson Bay bears.

03/08/2024

Going by boat is best. Visiting the Khutzeymateen means entering a landscape devoid of buildings and roads—just sky, ocean, and an inlet teeming with wildlife.

Travel on the 72-foot catamaran, The Inside Passage, with Classic Canadian Tours on Sunday, May 26th and June 9th.

02/26/2024

Springtime in the Khutzamateen is noisy. Screeching eagles, wind and waves, the roar of lions; sea lions, that is, engaged in breeding and eating.

The world’s only grizzly bear sanctuary is full of life; check it out with Classic Canadian Tours on May 26th and June 9th.

02/22/2024

The Khutzeymateen is a grand place for young grizzly cubs. Fresh grass to munch on, clams to dig, and, best of all, a mother bear keeping a weather eye out for dangerous males.

Be part of the ferment of spring, and visit the Khutzeymateen with Classic Canadian Tours on Sunday, May 26th, from Calgary and Sunday, June 9th, from Edmonton.

02/03/2024

Polar bears are solitary creatures. One of the few times you’ll see them interacting is in Churchill, Manitoba, as they await the sea ice freeze-up. At this time, you may see young males sparring or just checking each other out. The females with cubs will be expending energy, avoiding large males. It’s busy on the tundra; come and view the action with Classic Canadian Tours from Calgary on October 25th and November 2nd, Edmonton on October 27th and Saskatoon on November 8th.

01/28/2024

When polar bears head out on sea ice, it’s hard to know exactly where they are, but this map drawn up just a week ago provides some wonderful information showing the location of ear-tagged bears.

So what’s happening?

Six of these bears are still on land and likely in dens. With their cubs, these females will return to the ice in mid-March. Fifteen of the females are out hunting on the ice. We don’t know when these polar bears will return to land, but we know that Classic Canadian Tours will be back in Churchill, Manitoba, in October and November of this year when the bears gather on the shoreline, waiting for the bay to freeze again.

Join us on October 25th and November 2nd from Calgary, October 27th from Edmonton, and November 8th from Saskatoon.

11/07/2023

It’s almost time for the big freeze-up. But the ice is not quite hard enough, so they conserve energy for their return to the sea, their preferred hunting ground. Classic Canadian Tours looks forward to returning to Churchill next fall to watch this amazing migration unfold.

11/05/2023

The polar bear season is over for Classic Canadian Tours. But for the bears, it's the start of a new cycle. It's time for this female and her cub to head out on the ice and start to bulk up for the coming year.

11/04/2023

As the Classic Canadian Tours flight left Churchill on Sunday night, the Aurora Borealis sparkled. Passengers seated on the starboard side of the aircraft got a nice view and photos like this.

10/31/2023

Polar Bear Week is from October 29th to November 04th this year. The week is dedicated to the world's largest land carnivore. What a great idea. This mom and her 10-month-old cub welcomed the Classic Canadian Tours expedition to the tundra on Sunday.

10/28/2023

Polar Bear Week is underway. This handsome bruin showed up to greet Classic Canadian Tours guests on our first trip.

10/25/2023

Polar Bear Week this year is from Oct 29th to Nov 4th. The week coincides with the fall polar migration to the Churchill area, where the bears gather to wait for Hudson Bay to freeze over so they can return to the ice to hunt seals. Classic Canadian Tours sets out this Friday on our first one-day mission of the season.

10/23/2023

It is a lean season for polar bears. Without sea ice, they are reduced to munching on seaweed. This beach debris is rich in minerals but no substitute for seal meat. In Churchill, Manitoba, it is a waiting game for winter. Classic Canadian Tours is looking forward to catching up with the bears again over the next few weeks.