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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Renfrew, Ontario

Renfrew is a county in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 81 farms reporting maple taps and 33,426 taps here. Around Petawawa, sap usually runs from March 19 to April 20. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 163 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 19
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 20
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
34.7
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
33,426
#19 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at Petawawa right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Petawawa, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Renfrew's season usually opens around March 19, which is 163 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    6° / 15°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    4° / 12°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    0° / 16°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    10° / 26°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    11° / 18°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    9° / 14°
    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 Petawawa

Freeze-thaw weather at Petawawa peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 20, which hold about 62% 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 19 – Apr 200246Week of Dec 1: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 19
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Petawawa, 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 19; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 16 and Mar 23. Earliest Feb 27 (2010), latest Mar 30 (1992).
Closing signal
Median Apr 20; middle half between Apr 16 and Apr 25. Earliest Mar 31 (2010), latest May 4 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec8%Jan5%Feb10%Mar32%Apr38%May7%

35 seasons of sap weather

Renfrew seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Petawawa was 2020 with 58 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2019 with 20. 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 22 – Apr 21, 32 sap days3220242024: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 39 sap days3920232023: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 36 sap days3620222022: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 40 sap days4020212021: Mar 9 – Apr 6, 27 sap days2720202020: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 58 sap days5820192019: Mar 28 – Apr 29, 20 sap days2020182018: Mar 29 – Apr 27, 39 sap days3920172017: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3420162016: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 45 sap days4520152015: Mar 23 – Apr 25, 24 sap days2420142014: Mar 26 – Apr 25, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 23 sap days2320122012: Mar 8 – Apr 1, 36 sap days3620112011: Mar 23 – Apr 25, 30 sap days3020102010: Feb 27 – Mar 31, 38 sap days3820092009: Mar 19 – Apr 19, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 23 sap days2320072007: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 34 sap days3420062006: Mar 13 – Apr 14, 29 sap days2920052005: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 42 sap days4220042004: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 32 sap days3220032003: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 23 sap days2320022002: Mar 14 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4020012001: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 34 sap days3420002000: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 40 sap days4019991999: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 44 sap days4419981998: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 35 sap days3519971997: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 32 sap days3219961996: Mar 30 – May 4, 41 sap days4119951995: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 42 sap days4219941994: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 41 sap days4119931993: Mar 23 – Apr 22, 28 sap days2819921992: Mar 30 – May 2, 32 sap days3219911991: Mar 15 – Apr 14, 38 sap days38
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Petawawa. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Renfrew 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 81 in Renfrew, with 33,426 taps; in 2016, 101 farms and 28,211 taps. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Renfrew ranks 19th, and 84th of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed −20% and taps +18%. 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.

Renfrew maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
20218133,426E
201610128,211
  • 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 Petawawa, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 147 m (482 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

Renfrew sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Renfrew, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 19 near Petawawa and the season winds down around April 20. 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 Mar 30.
How much maple syrup does Renfrew produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 81 farms reporting 33,426 maple taps in Renfrew, number 19 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Renfrew get in a season?
On average 34.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Petawawa, of which about 10.7 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 (58 sap days); the leanest was 2019 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Petawawa (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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