TIME2PLAY — Maple syrup lives not only in the pantry of most Canadians, but also in their hearts. The sweet and sticky ingredient is so heavily ingrained in the Canadian identity that the rest of the world automatically associates it with the Great White North.
With National Maple Syrup Day coming up on Dec. 17, time2play wanted to see which province or territory consumes the most maple syrup. We also looked at what Canadians pair maple syrup with, and why some don’t consume the sap at all. We asked 1,000 Canadian households across the country to find out how they feel about Canada’s best-known export. Here's the report.
The sappiest province goes to ...
We asked households across the country the following question: “Within a month, how many times does your household consume maple syrup?”
Taking the lead by a huge stride, Quebec ranks first by consuming maple syrup an average of 7.8 times a month. This comes as no surprise as Quebec produces 90% of the country’s maple syrup production. Consuming maple syrup 4.7 times a month, Ontario takes second while New Brunswick follows closely behind at 4.5 times a month.
To finish off the top five list, Newfoundland and Labrador consume the sticky syrup 4.0 times a month, while Nova Scotia at 3.8 times a month.
The province that consumes the least amount of maple syrup is Manitoba, at 3.4 times a month.
The Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Prince Edward Island were not accounted for due to an insufficient amount of data.
Pancakes vs. Waffles vs. French Toast
As 89.7% of our respondents say they’ve consumed maple syrup this past year, we asked the controversial question: “What does your household typically pair maple syrup with?”
Nationwide, every province and territory is team pancakes except for one province - Saskatchewan. The landlocked province prefers to pair maple syrup with waffles despite what the rest of the nation thinks.
On a more individual level, over half (55.2%) of our respondents pair maple syrup with pancakes, while 20.4% pour syrup on waffles. French toast lovers only account for 11.2% of our data, while others (13.2%) use maple syrup as a cooking ingredient for sauces, potato dishes, baking, etc.
The Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Prince Edward Island were not accounted for due to a lack of data.
Sticky opinions
There’s no ingredient that is everyone’s cup of tea. Since 10.3% of respondents haven’t consumed maple syrup in the past year, we looked into their reasons why.
Most (32.4%) of our respondents simply don’t like the taste as it is too sweet for some. 24.5% don’t find a use for maple syrup as they don’t eat anything that calls for the sweet ingredient.
Others (22.5%) use an alternative substitute such as honey or agave. 13.7% say they can’t afford the rich ingredient while 3.9% have dietary restrictions that prevent them from consuming maple syrup. 3.0% have other reasons for why they don’t consume the syrup.
Methodology
In December 2022, we surveyed 1,000 Canadian households throughout the entire country. The average age in years is 34.4 years old. The average annual household income is $102,754.71.
