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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Halton, Ontario

Halton 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 27 farms reporting maple taps and 6,496 taps here. Around Oakville, sap usually runs from February 28 to March 28. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 144 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 28
weather estimate
Season ends
Mar 28
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
26.1
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
6,496
#28 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at Oakville right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Oakville, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Halton's season usually opens around February 28, which is 144 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    10° / 19°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    5° / 19°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    3° / 22°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    17° / 25°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    12° / 19°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    12° / 16°
    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 Oakville

Freeze-thaw weather at Oakville peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Mar 30, which hold about 48% 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: Feb 28 – Mar 280246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 28
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Oakville, 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 Feb 28; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 19 and Mar 7. Earliest Feb 1 (2017), latest Mar 26 (2008).
Closing signal
Median Mar 28; middle half between Mar 20 and Apr 4. Earliest Mar 2 (2024), latest Apr 13 (2003).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan13%Feb21%Mar33%Apr12%May0%

35 seasons of sap weather

Halton seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Oakville was 1996 with 37 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 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: Feb 27 – Mar 27, 24 sap days2420242024: Feb 2 – Mar 2, 19 sap days1920232023: Feb 20 – Mar 20, 28 sap days2820222022: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 28 sap days2820212021: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 29 sap days2920202020: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 33 sap days3320192019: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 30 sap days3020182018: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 37 sap days3720172017: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 20 sap days2020162016: Feb 8 – Mar 7, 27 sap days2720152015: Mar 11 – Apr 1, 23 sap days2320142014: Mar 10 – Apr 6, 17 sap days1720132013: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 30 sap days3020122012: Mar 7 – Mar 11, 22 sap days2220112011: Mar 7 – Mar 30, 16 sap days1620102010: Feb 19 – Mar 6, 16 sap days1620092009: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 26 sap days2620082008: Mar 26 – Apr 4, 19 sap days1920072007: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 22 sap days2220062006: Feb 19 – Mar 16, 26 sap days2620052005: Mar 6 – Mar 27, 23 sap days2320042004: Feb 27 – Mar 24, 22 sap days2220032003: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 25 sap days2520022002: Feb 13 – Mar 17, 32 sap days3220012001: Mar 8 – Apr 3, 22 sap days2220002000: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 29 sap days2919991999: Feb 26 – Mar 28, 30 sap days3019981998: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 24 sap days2419972619961996: Mar 15 – Apr 11, 37 sap days3719951995: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 29 sap days2919941994: Mar 11 – Apr 8, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 12 – Apr 5, 24 sap days2419921992: Mar 7 – Apr 7, 34 sap days3419911991: Feb 20 – Mar 17, 32 sap days32
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Oakville. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Halton 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 27 in Halton, with 6,496 taps; in 2016, 23 farms and 6,045 taps. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Halton ranks 28th, and 93rd of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed +17% and taps +7%. 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.

Halton maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
2021276,496E
2016236,045
  • E Statistics Canada quality grade: use with caution.

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 Oakville, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 94 m (308 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

Halton sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Halton, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 28 near Oakville and the season winds down around March 28. 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 1 and as late as Mar 26.
How much maple syrup does Halton produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 27 farms reporting 6,496 maple taps in Halton, number 28 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Halton get in a season?
On average 26.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Oakville, of which about 12.9 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 1996 (37 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (16).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Oakville (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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