Because the pole moves at a rate of about 10 to 15 kilometres a year, we can't say exactly where it is as you read this.

When we checked with the earth sciences department at the University of Western Ontario and other sources, the North Magnetic Pole was located on a southwest portion of Ellef Ringnes Island in the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Arctic at approximately 79 degrees N latitude and 104 degrees W longitude. To give you an idea of how far north that is, it's about 3,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

When the Magnetic Pole was discovered in 1831 by James Clark Ross, it was located on King William Island. Roald Amundsen studied the pole during his 1903 expedition and shortly after World War II the pole had move some 250 kilometres northwest to Prince of Wales Island. It reached Bathurst Island by the early 1960s and has been moving northwest ever since. There are several factors that account for its moving, including convection currents in the earth's core. As well, the pole moves during any given day because the sun constantly emits charged particles that eventually cause electric currents to be produced in the upper atmosphere of Earth.

According to information from the Canadian government, the pole is used as a tool for magnetic cartography. Knowing the angle between true north and magnetic north helps in navigation, and maps showing this "magnetic declination" are published every five years.