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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Nipissing, Ontario

Nipissing is a district in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 14 farms reporting maple taps and 13,108 taps here. Around North Bay, sap usually runs from March 23 to April 24. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 167 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 23
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 24
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
29.8
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
13,108
#27 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at North Bay right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for North Bay, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:30 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Nipissing's season usually opens around March 23, which is 167 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    6° / 13°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    5° / 10°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    2° / 15°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    9° / 21°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    11° / 17°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    8° / 11°
    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 North Bay

Freeze-thaw weather at North Bay peaks in the weeks of Mar 16 to Apr 20, which hold about 57% 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 23 – Apr 240246Week of Dec 1: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 23
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at North Bay, 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 23; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 18 and Mar 27. Earliest Feb 27 (2010), latest Apr 3 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 24; middle half between Apr 16 and Apr 27. Earliest Mar 31 (2010), latest May 6 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec9%Jan4%Feb9%Mar32%Apr40%May6%

35 seasons of sap weather

Nipissing seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at North Bay was 2020 with 46 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2014 with 18. 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 25 – Apr 29, 27 sap days2720242024: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 33 sap days3320232023: Mar 23 – Apr 20, 31 sap days3120222022: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 28 sap days2820212021: Mar 6 – Apr 6, 28 sap days2820202020: Mar 29 – Apr 26, 46 sap days4620192019: Mar 31 – Apr 29, 20 sap days2020182018: Apr 3 – Apr 30, 29 sap days2920172017: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 31 sap days3120162016: Mar 29 – Apr 30, 34 sap days3420152015: Mar 26 – Apr 25, 20 sap days2020142014: Mar 31 – Apr 24, 18 sap days1820132013: Mar 26 – Apr 25, 25 sap days2520122012: Mar 8 – Apr 1, 30 sap days3020112011: Mar 27 – Apr 30, 29 sap days2920102010: Feb 27 – Mar 31, 30 sap days3020092009: Mar 21 – Apr 19, 32 sap days3220082008: Mar 31 – Apr 16, 20 sap days2020072007: Mar 17 – Apr 15, 22 sap days2220062006: Mar 23 – Apr 10, 23 sap days2320052005: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 31 sap days3120042004: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 32 sap days3220032003: Mar 25 – Apr 27, 26 sap days2620022002: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 31 sap days3120012001: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 29 sap days2920002000: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 32 sap days3219991999: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3919981998: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 40 sap days4019971997: Mar 26 – Apr 26, 31 sap days3119961996: Apr 2 – May 6, 36 sap days3619951995: Mar 25 – Apr 24, 39 sap days3919941994: Mar 23 – Apr 23, 32 sap days3219931993: Mar 23 – Apr 24, 25 sap days2519921992: Apr 1 – May 5, 33 sap days3319911991: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 30 sap days30
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at North Bay. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Nipissing 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 14 in Nipissing, with 13,108 taps; in 2016, 24 farms and 15,126 taps. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Nipissing ranks 27th, and 92nd of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed −42% and taps −13%. 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.

Nipissing maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
20211413,108E
20162415,126
  • 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 North Bay, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 200 m (656 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

Nipissing sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Nipissing, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 23 near North Bay 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 27 and as late as Apr 3.
How much maple syrup does Nipissing produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 14 farms reporting 13,108 maple taps in Nipissing, number 27 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Nipissing get in a season?
On average 29.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at North Bay, of which about 11.5 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 (46 sap days); the leanest was 2014 (18).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at North Bay (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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