Sun Path: Montréal, Canada

Direct answer

For Montréal at 45.5088, -73.5878, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 67.9° at the June solstice, 44.5° at an equinox and 21.1° at the December solstice. Refine these geometry checks with the project date, civil time, facade azimuth, terrain and local horizon. The reproducible location record is GeoNames ID 6077243 in administrative area 10, at 45.5088, -73.5878; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 67.9° at the June solstice, 44.5° at an equinox and 21.1° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 8.5 hours in December to 15.5 hours in June; this excludes atmospheric refraction, terrain and obstruction effects. The cited national authority is a discovery starting point; current local documents and a named qualified reviewer control project use of this sun path record.

Prepared by Harth · Prepared from the cited location and country sources; local project inputs remain unreviewed · Published 2026-08-26 · Updated 2026-08-31.

What must be verified for Montréal?

Montréal is represented here at approximately 45.5088, -73.5878 for discovery and workflow planning. A project address, parcel, elevation, exposure, authority, and submission date must replace that city-centre reference before design use.

How should sun path be established?

1. Fix the surveyed site and local time basis.
2. Select an authoritative weather source or a named solar-position algorithm.
3. Record period, percentile or scenario and units.
4. Test sensitivity to elevation, exposure, urban form and horizon.
5. Save the source file, retrieval date and checker in the model record.

What are the limits of this worksheet?

This sun-path-workflow page is a project-starting worksheet, not a design value or approval. The controlling authority and qualified professionals for the Montréal site remain authoritative.

Montréal monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Montréal solar-geometry fingerprint at 45.5088, -73.5878

• Montréal, 21 January: declination -20.14°, noon altitude 24.35°, zenith 65.65°, geometric daylight 9.078 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.209.
• Montréal, 21 February: declination -11.23°, noon altitude 33.26°, zenith 56.74°, geometric daylight 10.446 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.524.
• Montréal, 21 March: declination -0.40°, noon altitude 44.09°, zenith 45.91°, geometric daylight 11.945 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.032.
• Montréal, 21 April: declination +11.58°, noon altitude 56.07°, zenith 33.93°, geometric daylight 13.605 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.673.
• Montréal, 21 May: declination +20.14°, noon altitude 64.63°, zenith 25.37°, geometric daylight 14.922 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.474.
• Montréal, 21 June: declination +23.45°, noon altitude 67.94°, zenith 22.06°, geometric daylight 15.494 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.405.
• Montréal, 21 July: declination +20.44°, noon altitude 64.93°, zenith 25.07°, geometric daylight 14.973 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.468.
• Montréal, 21 August: declination +11.75°, noon altitude 56.25°, zenith 33.75°, geometric daylight 13.630 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.668.
• Montréal, 21 September: declination -0.20°, noon altitude 44.29°, zenith 45.71°, geometric daylight 11.973 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.025.
• Montréal, 21 October: declination -11.75°, noon altitude 32.74°, zenith 57.26°, geometric daylight 10.370 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.555.
• Montréal, 21 November: declination -20.44°, noon altitude 24.05°, zenith 65.95°, geometric daylight 9.027 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.241.
• Montréal, 21 December: declination -23.45°, noon altitude 21.04°, zenith 68.96°, geometric daylight 8.506 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.599.

Harth computed the Montréal fingerprint for latitude 45.5088° with the Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle and 1 / tan(altitude) shadow ratio. Longitude -73.5878° is retained for a later civil-time conversion; this screen does not perform that conversion. See NOAA's solar calculation details. Atmospheric refraction, terrain, facade azimuth and obstructions remain outside this first-pass comparison.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all solar data guidance
• Sun Path: Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Canada
• Sun Path: Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Canada
• Sun Path: Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Canada
• Sun Path: Longueuil, Canada
• All solar & daylight data guidance for Canada
• Climate Design Data: Montréal, Canada

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames CA dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 6077243). Regulatory starting point: Codes Canada and the applicable provincial or territorial authority. Figures are illustrative — verify against the current locally adopted edition for the site. Solar-method context: NOAA Solar Calculation Details; the Harth monthly table uses a simpler declination and geometric-daylight approximation whose stated limitations must be retained.

Source links

• download.geonames.org

• nrc.canada.ca

• gml.noaa.gov