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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Durham, Ontario

Durham is a regional municipality in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 60 farms reporting maple taps and 60,236 taps here. Around Oshawa, sap usually runs from March 6 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 150 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 6
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 6
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
29.3
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
60,236
#9 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at Oshawa right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Oshawa, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Durham's season usually opens around March 6, which is 150 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    10° / 19°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    4° / 18°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    3° / 19°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    14° / 25°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    12° / 19°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    12° / 15°
    No refreeze forecast

Data: Environment and Climate Change Canada. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Oshawa

Freeze-thaw weather at Oshawa peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month. Typical dates are a weather estimate (no official season record for this province): the median of this division's own weather signals.
Typical season: Mar 6 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 6
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Oshawa, 1991–2025 (Daymet temperatures). A sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (37.4 °F). The shaded band is the typical season.

Year-to-year spread

Opening signal
Median Mar 6; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 25 and Mar 13. Earliest Feb 8 (2024), latest Mar 26 (2008).
Closing signal
Median Apr 6; middle half between Mar 29 and Apr 12. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 21 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan11%Feb18%Mar32%Apr19%May0%

35 seasons of sap weather

Durham seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Oshawa was 2020 with 45 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2008 with 16. Seasons that start early tend to end early too: the trees run on the swing between freezing nights and mild days, and heat ends it.
JanFebMarAprMaysap days20252025: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 30 sap days3020242024: Feb 8 – Mar 13, 35 sap days3520232023: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 32 sap days3220222022: Mar 6 – Apr 4, 32 sap days3220212021: Feb 24 – Mar 21, 33 sap days3320202020: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 45 sap days4520192019: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 36 sap days3620182018: Mar 18 – Apr 21, 37 sap days3720172017: Feb 21 – Mar 21, 28 sap days2820162016: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 32 sap days3220152015: Mar 14 – Apr 6, 22 sap days2220142014: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 16 sap days1620132013: Mar 6 – Apr 6, 35 sap days3520122012: Feb 12 – Mar 12, 38 sap days3820112011: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 23 sap days2320102010: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 25 sap days2520092009: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 30 sap days3020082008: Mar 26 – Apr 4, 16 sap days1620072007: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 21 sap days2120062006: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 32 sap days3220052005: Mar 7 – Mar 30, 27 sap days2720042004: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 27 sap days2720032003: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 24 sap days2420022002: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 32 sap days3220012001: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 24 sap days2420002000: Feb 17 – Mar 20, 26 sap days2619991999: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 35 sap days3519981998: Feb 23 – Mar 25, 26 sap days2619971997: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 26 sap days2619961996: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2819951995: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 34 sap days3419941994: Mar 13 – Apr 8, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 22 sap days2219921992: Mar 17 – Apr 15, 29 sap days2919911991: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 35 sap days35
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Oshawa. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Durham in the Census of Agriculture

Statistics Canada counts the farms that report maple taps in its Census of Agriculture every five years. In 2021 it counted 60 in Durham, with 60,236 taps; in 2016, 61 farms. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Durham ranks 9th, and 68th of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed −2%. Statistics Canada cautions that 2021 and 2016 are not strictly comparable: the census-farm definition changed in 2021, and farms were assigned to their main location more strictly.

Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division, so the Canadian pages show farms and taps, not gallons or litres.

Durham maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
20216060,236
201661withheld by Statistics Canada
  • "Withheld by Statistics Canada": Statistics Canada suppressed the value to protect confidentiality (x). The farm count is still published.

Nearby

Neighboring maple divisions

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each division's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the Daymet 1-km grid cell at Oshawa, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 110 m (361 ft). Each day is scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (37.4 °F). A season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits 35 days before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. The rule was calibrated on 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates in the US and is applied here unchanged. Ontario has no official season record, so the typical dates are a weather estimate. Production figures are copied from Statistics Canada as published. Full method, the Daymet checks and the Quebec validation → Run a sugarhouse here? Put this sap forecast on your own website →

Sources · 7

  1. 1.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2021 (Table 32-10-0362-01) · Statistics Canada
  2. 2.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2011 and 2016 (Table 32-10-0423-01) · Statistics Canada
  3. 3.Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1 · ORNL DAAC
  4. 4.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  5. 5.2021 Census cartographic boundary files (census divisions, population centres) · Statistics Canada
  6. 6.Population and dwelling counts, 2021 Census (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) · Statistics Canada
Show 1 more
  1. 7.GeoNames geographical database (CA) · GeoNames

Licences and attribution

  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture 2021 and 2016 (Tables 32-10-0362-01 and 32-10-0423-01), 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) and 2021 Census cartographic boundary files. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
  • Thornton, M.M., R. Shrestha, Y. Wei, P.E. Thornton, S-C. Kao, and B.E. Wilson. 2022. Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2129
  • Place coordinates: GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0.

FAQ

Durham sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Durham, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 6 near Oshawa and the season winds down around April 6. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of nights below −1 °C and days above +3 °C. In the past 35 seasons the weather signal came as early as Feb 8 and as late as Mar 26.
How much maple syrup does Durham produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 60 farms reporting 60,236 maple taps in Durham, number 9 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Durham get in a season?
On average 29.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Oshawa, of which about 14.5 are textbook days with a night between about −7 and −2 °C and a day between 4 and 9 °C. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (45 sap days); the leanest was 2008 (16).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Oshawa (Daymet 1-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast. Ontario has no official season record, so they are a weather estimate. They describe a typical year at one point in the division; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

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