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Nova Scotia · maple season dates

When to tap maple trees in Nova Scotia

Maple season in Nova Scotia usually opens March and winds down late April. Here's the long-run pattern, the year-by-year record, and what the forecast says right now.
Watch the forecastThe season usually opens March.
Opens
Mar 15
weather estimate
Closes
Apr 17
weather estimate

Division by division

When the sap runs across Nova Scotia

Typical season dates for 7 Nova Scotia census divisions: weather estimates from 35 seasons of daily temperatures at each division's reference town (no official season record for this province). Hover or tap a division for its season; sort the table by any column.
Nova Scotia maple atlas →

Loading the map…

Typical opening date of the sap season, week by week across this province’s range

  • Mar 9–15
  • Mar 16–19
  • fewer than 5 maple farms

7 places with an atlas page. Typical season opening, earliest: Lunenburg, NS, Mar 9; Annapolis, NS, Mar 11; Kings, NS, Mar 13; latest: Cumberland, NS, Mar 19; Pictou, NS, Mar 18; Colchester, NS, Mar 17. Most sap days a season: Colchester, NS, 44; Lunenburg, NS, 44; Hants, NS, 43. Maple taps in the 2021 Census of Agriculture, on a five-step scale shared by both countries: under 1,000, 1,000–5,000, 5,000–20,000, 20,000–100,000, 100,000+; the most: Cumberland, NS (257,477), Kings, NS (61,068). Maple farms in the same census, in five steps: under 10, 10–20, 20–50, 50–100, 100+; the most: Cumberland, NS (31), Kings, NS (18), Colchester, NS (16). Canadian divisions have no official count. 5 places show an earlier census figure (dotted) because the latest was withheld; those figures don’t set the bins. Each shaded place links to its page; every state and province page lists its places in a table.

Typical maple season, sap days a season and taps for 7 Nova Scotia census divisions
LunenburgMar 9 – Apr 10444,926 (2016)
AnnapolisMar 11 – Apr 124110,838 (2016)
KingsMar 13 – Apr 164261,068
HantsMar 14 – Apr 1643818 (2016)
ColchesterMar 17 – Apr 194423,499 (2016)
PictouMar 18 – Apr 19385,441 (2016)
CumberlandMar 19 – Apr 2038257,477

Taps with a year in brackets are that earlier census’s count, shown where the latest was withheld; they sort after the published counts.

Sap-flow outlook right now

Full Nova Scotia forecast →

Forecast for Earltown

Updated Nov 8, 3:00 PM EST

Off-season

Nova Scotia's opening window starts in about 112 days

Typically March.

What to do now

  1. 1

    Hold the drill

    Fall sap is low in sugar, and a November hole on buckets is spent by January.

    Can you tap in fall?

  2. 2

    Find and mark your trees

    Easiest while the leaves are on. Tapping starts at 12 inches across, about 38 inches around.

    A beginner’s season plan

  3. 3

    Gather your gear

    A drill with a clean 5/16-inch bit, one spout per taphole, covered food-grade buckets.

    A beginner’s season plan

LuckySap can nudge you about two weeks before the season usually opens where you tap, and again on opening day. Once the sap runs, it pings you at 7 p.m. the evening before a strong sap day. Free on iPhone and Android.

Show this week’s forecast anyway

Only marginal days ahead

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. MonNov 9
    4° / 8°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. TueNov 10
    3° / 6°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. WedNov 11
    0° / 6°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. ThuNov 12
    -1° / 6°
    Maybe a light run
  5. FriNov 13
    1° / 5°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. SatNov 14
    3° / 5°
    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.

Weather estimate

Estimated from 35 seasons of weather

No official season record exists for Nova Scotia. Our weather signal, weighted by farms across its 7 atlas divisions, puts the typical opening around Mar 15 and the closing around Apr 17. It's an estimate from daily temperatures (Daymet, 1991–2025), not a producer survey.

Opens
Mar 15
weather estimate
Closes
Apr 17
weather estimate
Earliest opening
Feb 27
2000
Latest opening
Apr 2
2015
Nova Scotia maple atlas →
MarAprMay1991: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 51 sap days1992: Mar 29 – May 1, 41 sap days1993: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 37 sap days1994: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 34 sap days1995: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 44 sap days1996: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 39 sap days1997: Mar 29 – Apr 30, 43 sap days1998: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 28 sap days1999: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 53 sap days2000: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 41 sap days2001: Mar 28 – Apr 27, 39 sap days2002: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 40 sap days2003: Mar 23 – Apr 21, 36 sap days2004: Mar 25 – Apr 26, 32 sap days2005: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 40 sap days2006: Mar 3 – Apr 1, 31 sap days2007: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 47 sap days2008: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 36 sap days2009: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 47 sap days2010: Feb 28 – Mar 28, 31 sap days2011: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 35 sap days2012: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 54 sap days2013: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 43 sap days2014: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 33 sap days2015: Apr 2 – Apr 28, 36 sap days2016: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 52 sap days2017: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 41 sap days2018: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 53 sap days2019: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 38 sap days2020: Mar 22 – Apr 24, 52 sap days2021: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 31 sap days2022: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 41 sap days2023: Mar 13 – Apr 12, 44 sap days2024: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 47 sap days2025: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 36 sap days19911995200020052010201520202025
Each bar runs from the province's opening signal to its closing signal that season, averaged over its 7 atlas divisions and weighted by 2021 farms. Dashed lines: the typical estimate.

Timing your taps

How to know it's time in Nova Scotia

Sap runs on a temperature swing, not a date. A night below freezing loads the tree; a day above freezing pushes sap out of the taphole. Field research treats a low under about 30°F followed by a high over about 37°F as a real freeze-thaw day, and big runs almost always come on days like that.

So watch the 10-day forecast. When you see a string of nights in the 20s and afternoons in the 40s, get your taps in a day or two ahead. South-facing slopes warm first and usually run earlier.

No multi-year published dates were found. The Maple Producers Association of Nova Scotia says tapping season lasts about four to six weeks between March and April; Taste of Nova Scotia describes maple season as March to late April. Mild winters can bring February flows (e.g., 2016).

Seasons are shifting. In Québec, the sap season is projected to start and end 9–13 days earlier by 2046–2065 and 15–19 days earlier by 2081–2100 than in 1971–2000; season onset advances about four days for each degree Celsius of warming (Houle et al., PLoS ONE, 2015).

Where Nova Scotia's sugaring happens

  • EarltownNorthern Nova Scotia's Colchester–Cumberland area is where the maple association's president describes the province's producers; Earltown's Maple Mist Farm taps about 8,000 trees (CBC, 2016).

FAQ

Nova Scotia tapping questions

When is maple syrup season in Nova Scotia?
Usually from March to late April. The exact start moves by weeks from year to year with the weather.
When should I tap my trees in Nova Scotia?
Tap just before the first good run: when the forecast shows nights below freezing and days climbing to around 40°F. Tapholes dry up within 6 to 10 weeks, so tapping far too early can cost you the late runs.

Nova Scotia

More for Nova Scotia sugarmakers

Nearby

When to tap in other provinces

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when Nova Scotia's sap will run

LuckySap checks the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

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