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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Manitoulin, Ontario

Manitoulin is a district in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 23 farms reporting maple taps here (taps withheld by Statistics Canada). Around Wikwemikong, sap usually runs from March 24 to April 24. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 168 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 24
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 24
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
24.8
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
withheld
by Statistics Canada

Sap-flow outlook at Wikwemikong right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Wikwemikong, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:30 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Manitoulin's season usually opens around March 24, which is 168 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    6° / 13°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    8° / 14°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    3° / 17°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    11° / 21°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    12° / 17°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    10° / 12°
    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 Wikwemikong

Freeze-thaw weather at Wikwemikong peaks in the weeks of Mar 16 to Apr 20, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. April 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 24 – Apr 240246Week of Dec 1: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 24
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Wikwemikong, 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 24; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 20 and Mar 28. Earliest Feb 18 (2012), latest Apr 10 (2019).
Closing signal
Median Apr 24; middle half between Apr 16 and Apr 28. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest May 4 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec14%Jan6%Feb9%Mar33%Apr36%May3%

35 seasons of sap weather

Manitoulin seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Wikwemikong was 1995 with 38 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 14. 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 24 – Apr 17, 21 sap days2120242024: Mar 7 – Apr 1, 21 sap days2120232023: Mar 22 – Apr 20, 30 sap days3020222022: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 24 sap days2420212021: Mar 7 – Apr 4, 27 sap days2720202020: Mar 27 – Apr 26, 33 sap days3320192019: Apr 10 – Apr 29, 16 sap days1620182018: Apr 3 – Apr 29, 21 sap days2120172017: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 26 sap days2620162016: Mar 27 – Apr 28, 19 sap days1920152015: Mar 27 – Apr 25, 14 sap days1420142014: Apr 2 – Apr 24, 18 sap days1820132013: Mar 27 – Apr 26, 24 sap days2420122012: Feb 18 – Mar 12, 35 sap days3520112011: Mar 28 – Apr 22, 26 sap days2620102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 27 sap days2720092009: Mar 23 – Apr 17, 26 sap days2620082008: Mar 31 – Apr 16, 18 sap days1820072007: Mar 23 – Apr 15, 22 sap days2220062006: Mar 23 – Apr 10, 23 sap days2320052005: Mar 21 – Apr 12, 23 sap days2320042004: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 28 sap days2820032003: Mar 28 – Apr 30, 24 sap days2420022002: Mar 21 – Apr 24, 32 sap days3220012001: Mar 24 – Apr 28, 21 sap days2120002000: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 28 sap days2819991999: Mar 14 – Apr 13, 25 sap days2519981998: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 21 sap days2119971997: Mar 31 – May 2, 21 sap days2119961996: Apr 8 – May 4, 23 sap days2319951995: Mar 25 – Apr 24, 38 sap days3819941994: Mar 27 – Apr 28, 30 sap days3019931993: Mar 26 – Apr 27, 24 sap days2419921992: Apr 1 – Apr 29, 26 sap days2619911991: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 32 sap days32
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Wikwemikong. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Manitoulin 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 23 in Manitoulin; in 2016, 29 farms and 8,871 taps.

Over the five years the farm count changed −21%. 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.

Manitoulin maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
202123withheld by Statistics Canada
2016298,871
  • "Withheld by Statistics Canada": Statistics Canada suppressed the value as too unreliable to publish (F). 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 Wikwemikong, the division's largest population centre in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 202 m (663 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

Manitoulin sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Manitoulin, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 24 near Wikwemikong and the season winds down around April 24. 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 18 and as late as Apr 10.
How much maple syrup does Manitoulin produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 23 farms reporting maple taps in Manitoulin; the tap count was withheld by Statistics Canada.
How many sap days does Manitoulin get in a season?
On average 24.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Wikwemikong, of which about 12.6 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 1995 (38 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (14).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Wikwemikong (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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