When to tap maple trees in Quebec
Maple season in Quebec usually opens mid-March and winds down mid-April. Here's the long-run pattern, the year-by-year record, and what the forecast says right now.
- Opens
- March 14
- Closes
- April 18
- Recent openings ranged
- Mar 6 – Mar 24 (regional means, 1999–2011)
- Typical length
- About 34 days
Forecast for Saint-Georges
Updated Sep 26, 5:00 AM EDT
It's the off-season. Sap needs freezing nights, and there are none in sight. Quebec's season usually opens around March 14 — 169 days from now.
No freeze-thaw days in the forecast
Blue = below 32°F · Amber = thaw · dashed line = freezing
- SunSep 27No freeze, no run18°high10°low
- MonSep 28No freeze, no run16°high11°low
- TueSep 29No freeze, no run18°high10°low
- WedSep 30No freeze, no run20°high8°low
- ThuOct 1No freeze, no run21°high11°low
- FriOct 2No freeze, no run19°high14°low
Data: Environment and Climate Change Canada. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.
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. Tap south-facing slopes first — they warm and run earlier.
From weekly syrup-production data at 121 producers in 11 regions, 1999–2011 (Houle et al. 2015). Typical dates are the median of the 11 regional means: southern regions (Valleyfield, Saint-Hyacinthe) start around Mar 6–7, Beauce around Mar 14 and Bas-Saint-Laurent around Mar 24. Year-to-year swings are large: the earliest regional start was Feb 22 (2010) and the latest Apr 14 (2003). No per-year provincial dates are published, so history is empty.
Seasons are shifting. In New England and New York, the sugaring season now begins about 8 days earlier and ends about 11 days earlier than it did 40 years earlier, leaving it roughly 3 days (about 10%) shorter, according to UVM Proctor Maple Research Center survey records analyzed in 2007.
Plan your season
Sources
- Impacts of Climate Change on the Timing of the Production Season of Maple Syrup in Eastern Canada (Houle et al. 2015, PLoS ONE 10(12): e0144844) — PLOS ONE
- Statistiques acéricoles 2024 — Producteurs et productrices acéricoles du Québec
- Statement of Timothy D. Perkins, Ph.D., Director, UVM Proctor Maple Research Center — Global Warming Mountaintop 'Summit': Economic Impacts on New England (June 4, 2007) — U.S. House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming
Common questions
- When is maple syrup season in Quebec?
- Usually from mid-March to mid-April — about 5 weeks. The exact start moves by weeks from year to year with the weather.
- When should I tap my trees in Quebec?
- Tap just before the first good run: when the forecast shows nights below freezing and days climbing to around 40°F. In a typical year that's around March 14. Tapholes dry up within 6 to 10 weeks, so tapping far too early can cost you the late runs.
- What weather makes sap run?
- Freezing nights and thawing days. Field research counts a freeze-thaw day as a low under about 30°F and a high over about 37°F; nights in the 20s and days in the 40s are the classic sap days.
Get a heads-up when Quebec'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.
