Quebec sugar shacks, closed for two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, get back in the flow of things

Pierre Faucher, owner of La Sucrerie de la Montagne, samples some of the sugar shack's first run of the season in Rigaud, Que.Photography by Christinne Muschi /The Globe and Mail

La Sucrerie de la Montagne, a sugar shack located approximately 70 kilometres west of Montreal, has reopened to the public after being shuttered for two years because of the pandemic.

Owner Pierre Faucher recalls closing on March 15, 2020, just as the maple-syrup season was starting.

“I never thought I would miss a sugar season,” says Mr. Faucher, who took over a small maple farm 45 years ago and built it up to create what he calls a signature Canadian experience: A place to showcase traditional ways of making maple syrup, as well as Québécois music and food, which visitors come from around the world to enjoy.

The first year of the pandemic “knocked us out,” Mr. Faucher says. Without the 35,000 guests who would have visited over two months, “we were left with food in our fridges,” he says, adding that they donated much of it.

Last year, the sugar shack got into food boxes for home delivery. Each one included pea soup, homemade bread, maple-glazed ham, country sausage, meat pie, meatballs, beans, soufflé, pancakes and sugar pie.

They made about 3,000 boxes serving four people each – only a third of their regular business. But they were grateful to the regular customers who supported them.

As tough as the past two years were financially, Mr. Faucher sees the positive side. The pandemic brought his family closer together. “While most people were locked up, we were running through the woods making maple syrup,” he says.

He recalls his 10-year-old granddaughter telling him how normally during maple-syrup season, she would only see him to say hello, but now they were together all the time, harvesting the syrup as a family.

As the Quebec government finally lifted most of the public-health measures associated with COVID-19, the sugar shack and its restaurant were able to open in March. Now, the problem is a lack of staff.

“Normally, we hire 120 people,” says Mr. Faucher. “This year, we have 30.″

They can only manage between 650 and 700 visitors a day when typically they could handle 1,700.

Aside from these problems, the season looks promising. They started boiling maple syrup on March 18 and, with warm days and cold nights, it’s a good start.

Quebec leads the world in annual maple-syrup production, accounting for more than 70 per cent of global supply.

Approximately 40 litres of maple sap will produce one litre of syrup and each tree produces an average of one litre of syrup a year.

Mr. Faucher says it is great to be seeing visitors again and serving up the sugar-shack experience.

“In French, we say les retrouvailles,” he says, struggling for the English translation. “Somewhere between it being nice to rediscover and recognize our friends who we haven’t seen for a while.”

Basically, he says, “It’s just nice to be back.”