Christmas Eve is here and Santa Claus is coming to town.

Santa Trackers at 22 Wing CFB North Bay, a Canadian air force base about 350 km north of Toronto, say they have spotted the big guy in the red suit and his team of trusty reindeers in the sky. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, with his nose so bright, is leading the team. 

As Santa makes his way from North Pole, Santa Trackers in North Bay, Ont. are monitoring his progress across North America with a little help from some military technologies, including radar, satellites with infrared sensors, and fighter jets. 

Maj. Kathleen Leaton, mission crew commander of NORAD Tracks Santa at CFB North Bay, says it's an exciting time for the air force base. She is overseeing all the personnel at the base tracking Santa as part of the annual program on Sunday. The personnel includes members of the U.S. Air Force.

"This is actually my first year tracking Santa. It's my great honour and privilege to do it this year," Leaton said this week. 

NORAD tracks Santa

Santa Claus doesn't file a flight plan with NORAD, the agency that monitors airspace, so when his sleigh shows up on the radar crew at CFB North Bay track him during his Christmas eve mission to deliver presents to boys and girls in Canada. (Yvon Theriault/Radio-Canada)

"It's very exciting. If you have to work Christmas, I can't think of a better job to be doing. It's a wonderful time, and we're really excited to be part of people's traditions for more than 60 years."

The North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) has also deployed "Santa Cams" — high tech, high speed digital cameras set up at various positions — to track Santa's journey.

Leaton said the "Santa Cams" will stream on the NORAD Tracks Santa website.

NORAD follows Santa's Christmas trek LIVE0:00

CFB North Bay is home to one of the NORAD command sites, which monitors the airspace above North America 365 days of the year. The organization jointly operated between the RCAF and American air force identifies any object that may not have a flight plan.

That includes Santa, according to the base.

Starting at 2:01 a.m. EST on Dec. 24, visitors to the NORAD Tracks Santa website were able to watch Santa get ready for his long journey, which involves delivering presents to good children around the world.

NoradTracks Santa

In this file photo, volunteers take phone calls from children asking where Santa is and when he will deliver presents to their house during the annual Norad Tracks Santa Operation. (Brennan Linsley/File/Associated Press)

The website features Santa's North Pole Village, where children can play games and take part in activities, follow the countdown until Christmas, listen to music, read stories and watch movies. The site is available in eight languages. 

Santa experiences time differently than people on Earth, Leaton said, and that is how he is able to travel to so many places within a period of time that is actually 24 hours.

"To him, because he's operating in a slightly different time space-time continuum, it could take him days, weeks, months even, to deliver all of his gifts. But, of course, that is part of the magic of Christmas."

Misprint led to tracking

Santa Tracking began in 1955 by accident, she said. Before NORAD was formed, when it was still the Continental Air Defence Command (CONAD), a newspaper misprinted a Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement containing the phone number for children to call in to talk to Santa. Instead of reaching Santa, a child reached CONAD operations in Colorado. 

Sears Santa 1955 ad

The misprint of a phone number for children to call Santa in a 1955 newspaper ad for Sears Roebuck set off what became the Norad Tracks Santa program. (Norad)

"A colonel by the name of Harry Shoup picked up the phone and assured children who called in that Santa was safe and CONAD, at the time, would be tracking Santa on his progress through North America," she said.

NORAD replaced CONAD in 1958, and it has taken over the mission of tracking Santa's flight across the world every year, she added. 

As of 6 a.m. ET on Christmas Eve, children and their parents are able talk to a live phone operator at 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723). People can also send an email to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com for updates.