Andrew McClelland
The Advocate
The federal government is teaming up with the province of Ontario to offer maple syrup producers in that province an envelope of $1 million to help increase productivity, efficiency and growth in the maple industry.
The Maple Production Improvement Initiative is aimed at boosting Ontario’s maple production by covering up to 50 per cent (to a maximum of $20,000) of costs on improvement and expansion projects. But it does not have producers in Quebec too worried, at least according to one syrup producer.
“Our government appreciates the resilience and determination of maple syrup producers throughout Ontario and how they have continued to build a solid market for their maple syrup products,” said Lisa Thompson, Ontario’s minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “This investment … will drive increased production, supporting specific growth targets.”
To be eligible, Ontario producers must have had 1,000 taps in operation since April 1, 2023. The money can be used for the purchase and installation of upgraded production equipment, like reverse osmosis or remote monitoring systems, which help reduce boiling time and save on fuel costs.
Funds from the initiative can also be used to cover a portion of certain woodlot management activities, including tree marking and the development of a forest plan to assist business operations.
Federal Minister of Agriculture Lawrence MacAulay was on hand for the announcement, which took place in Toronto on Sept. 26.
“Ontario’s maple syrup producers continue to deliver exceptional products that are enjoyed here in Canada, and around the world,” MacAulay said.
While the initiative will be administered by the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, it has not yet been disclosed how much of the support money will be provided by the federal government and how much by its provincial counterpart.
Sizing up the competition
The Maple Production Improvement Initiative shows Ontario’s ambition to capture a more significant portion of the maple syrup market. Currently, Canada produces 71 per cent of the world’s maple syrup — and 91 per cent of that is produced in Quebec.
“Ontario has a tremendous opportunity to grow its maple syrup sector,” said Randal Goodfellow, president of the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers’ Association. “Whereas Ontario has the largest number of maple trees in Canada, only a very small percentage of this number is used for maple syrup production.”
But some Quebec maple producers aren’t that worried by the prospect of Ontario taking a larger share of the maple pie. As Morgan Arthur — who has been running his maple operation in Rockburn, Que., in the Châteauguay Valley since 1989 — explained, the forests of Ontario simply don’t have the same concentration of maples as Quebec.
“Yes, they have a lot of maples,” said Arthur. “But when you go there and see how spread out those trees are, you realize you’d need an awful lot of land to have a good syrup operation.”
Furthermore, the price of land in Ontario maple-producing areas like Lanark and Lennox and Addington counties has skyrocketed in recent decades due to development of the growing populations of Ottawa and Toronto.
In 2012, Arthur himself expanded into Ontario, at one point with 26,000 taps in Madawaska, just east of Algonquin Park. But he realized the venture could never be as profitable as his Quebec forests.
“I was an Ontario maple syrup producer,” he said. “But, in the end, it made more sense to sell my land. And the people who had the cash to buy it were multi-multi-millionaires.”
Today, Arthur’s operation in Quebec boasts 26,000 taps — 19,000 owned and 7,000 leased. And while he acknowledges that Maple Production Improvement Initiative gives Ontario producers some support, it won’t be enough to tip the balance in today’s market.
“The fact is $20,000 doesn’t go very far in getting set up in the maple business these days. I have a neighbour who just got into production and putting in 2,200 taps cost him $180,000.”
Since the initiative is part of Ottawa’s Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which came into effect April 1, Ontario producers seeking funding can retroactively apply to have costs covered as of that date. Program applications close Nov. 9.
Eligible costs run the gamut from purchasing sap collection pumps, coolers and evaporators to generators, filters and packaging and labelling equipment.