In this paper, we study a geometric counterpart of the cyclic vector which allow us to put a rank 2 meromorphic connection on a curve into a ``companion'' normal form. This allow us to naturally identify an open set of the moduli space of $\mathrm{GL}_2$-connections (with fixed generic spectral data, i.e. unramified, non resonant) with some Hilbert scheme of points on the twisted cotangent bundle of the curve. We prove that this map is symplectic, therefore providing Darboux (or canonical) coordinates on the moduli space, i.e. separation of variables. On the other hand, for $\mathrm{SL}_2$-connections, we give an explicit formula for the symplectic structure for a birational model given by Matsumoto. We finally detail the case of an elliptic curve with a divisor of degree $2$.PDF: Canonical coordinates for moduli spaces of rank two irregular connections on curves.pdf