Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Simcoe, Ontario

Simcoe is a county in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 111 farms reporting maple taps and 57,191 taps here. Around Barrie, sap usually runs from March 15 to April 16. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 159 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 15
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 16
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
30.9
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
57,191
#11 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at Barrie right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Barrie, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Simcoe's season usually opens around March 15, which is 159 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    8° / 16°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    6° / 16°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    4° / 20°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    15° / 25°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    12° / 18°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    11° / 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 Barrie

Freeze-thaw weather at Barrie peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, 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: Mar 15 – Apr 160246Week of Dec 1: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 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: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 15
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Barrie, 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 15; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 9 and Mar 19. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Apr 2 (2008).
Closing signal
Median Apr 16; middle half between Apr 9 and Apr 17. Earliest Mar 15 (2012), latest Apr 30 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec14%Jan8%Feb14%Mar32%Apr29%May3%

35 seasons of sap weather

Simcoe seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Barrie was 2020 with 54 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2008 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 17 – Apr 17, 25 sap days2520242024: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 29 sap days2920232023: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 36 sap days3620222022: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 39 sap days3920212021: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 32 sap days3220202020: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 54 sap days5420192019: Mar 19 – Apr 17, 28 sap days2820182018: Mar 27 – Apr 30, 36 sap days3620172017: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3020162016: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 41 sap days4120152015: Mar 16 – Apr 9, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 24 – Apr 24, 20 sap days2020132013: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 21 sap days2120122012: Feb 15 – Mar 15, 43 sap days4320112011: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 24 sap days2420102010: Mar 3 – Mar 31, 31 sap days3120092009: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 34 sap days3420082008: Apr 2 – Apr 16, 20 sap days2020072007: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 24 sap days2420062006: Mar 24 – Apr 10, 24 sap days2420052005: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 32 sap days3220042004: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 27 sap days2720032003: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 23 sap days2320022002: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 37 sap days3720012001: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 25 sap days2520002000: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 30 sap days3019991999: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 39 sap days3919981998: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 28 sap days2819971997: Mar 24 – Apr 21, 29 sap days2919961996: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 36 sap days3619951995: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 42 sap days4219941994: Mar 16 – Apr 12, 33 sap days3319931993: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 23 sap days2319921992: Mar 23 – Apr 16, 26 sap days2619911991: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 32 sap days32
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Barrie. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Simcoe 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 111 in Simcoe, with 57,191 taps; in 2016, 118 farms and 47,625 taps. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Simcoe ranks 11th, and 70th of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed −6% and taps +20%. 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.

Simcoe maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
202111157,191E
201611847,625
  • 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 Barrie, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 261 m (856 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

Simcoe sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Simcoe, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 15 near Barrie and the season winds down around April 16. 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 15 and as late as Apr 2.
How much maple syrup does Simcoe produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 111 farms reporting 57,191 maple taps in Simcoe, number 11 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Simcoe get in a season?
On average 30.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Barrie, of which about 13 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 (54 sap days); the leanest was 2008 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Barrie (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.

Ontario

More for Ontario sugarmakers

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Know when the sap will run in Simcoe

LuckySap turns the forecast for your trees into a day-by-day sap-flow outlook, can ping you the evening before a strong sap day, and keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play