On the night of Wednesday, October 21, through Thursday, October 22, 2026, if the sky is clear and light pollution is low (let’s set a reminder right now: turn off the lights), we’ll be able to see between 10 and 20 shooting stars per hour streak across the Montreal sky.
It’s the Orionid meteor shower, which will streak across the sky from October 2 to November 7, 2026—but the best time to see them will be that night.
It’s a meteor shower (even though we prefer to call them “shooting stars”). It’s almost impossible to photograph; you absolutely must make a wish on every meteor; it’s a touch of magic and the cosmos in the long, cold nights of Montreal’s fall.
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THE ORIONIDS—STARS RAIN DOWN OVER MONTREAL
The Orionids are a meteor shower that occurs in the constellation Orion, hence its name.
Despite the very magical name, it won’t actually be stars falling. What we see is dust from asteroids and comets burning up as it enters our planet’s atmosphere.
And the ones that will streak across the Montreal sky are the dust particles left behind by the famous Halley’s Comet (which passes through Earth’s sky every 76 years). Our planet crosses paths with them in October, hence the celestial spectacle we’ll witness this month.
Visually, it looks as though these meteors are falling from the constellation Orion (which, since time immemorial, has heralded the long winter nights in the Northern Hemisphere).
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WHERE AND WHEN TO SEE THE ORIONIDS IN MONTREAL?
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At the Belvédère Outremont
The observation deck is open from 6 a.m. to midnight every day, and you can head there as early as 6 a.m. on October 22 if you want a good view, because the Orionids will be at their peak visibility at 5 a.m. The sun will rise at 7:21 a.m., so you’ll have a full hour to watch the stars.
The lookout offers a perfect view of Mount Royal—a patch of sky not too affected by city lights, from which you can see the meteors.
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At 5 a.m.
The Orionid meteor shower will peak in Montreal around 5 a.m., so for dawn joggers and night owls alike, set a reminder to look up at the sky.
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