Nunavut – The Magnetic North Magnetic Pole has been moving away from Canadian territory, west of Ellesmere island, in a north-west direction towards Russia at a rate of about 55 km a year. This pole is the point on the surface of Earth’s Northern Hemisphere where the planet’s magnetic field points vertically downwards. The ‘North Pole’ is in neutral territory about 800 km north of Ellesmere Island (in December 2013 Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Monday that Canada will make a claim to the North Pole.)