Cast your mind back to World War II. It was a time when sugar shipments were drying up & ration books were the most important thing on the kitchen table. To get the sweetness they were craving, many Canadians tried something a little closer to home. They had maple syrup. Their decision to use maple syrup was great news for the Canadian wartime economy. But how? Here are the facts.
Key takeaways
You’ll learn about:
- When sugar rationing began & how it changed daily life
- How Ottawa encouraged people to use maple syrup instead of imports
- Why soldiers had maple sugar in their rations
- The effect on Canada’s wartime economy
Sugar rationing arrives
Canada officially went into sugar lockdown in 1942. By June of the same year, the use of ration coupons was widespread & every household had to make their limited supply stretch. The war disrupted sugar supplies from the Caribbean. It also made shipping routes dangerous, and the government soon stepped in to resolve the issue.
Everyone in Canada had to deal with the limits. That includes bakeries & restaurants, as well as candy makers. The Wartime Prices & Trade Board had the responsibility of making sure things stayed fair and stopping anyone from hoarding or overcharging for the sweet stuff.
Ottawa points Canadians to maple
As soon as rationing began, the federal government started encouraging everyone to use local sweeteners. They mostly focused on maple syrup & maple sugar. At the time, the goal was less focused on patriotism and more on practicality.
Several newspapers printed recipe sheets from the Department of Agriculture that taught people how to adjust to the different sweetness levels. Soon enough, families learned how to bake cookies & pies using maple syrup, although it didn’t taste exactly the same. But the swap kept the treats coming in during a time when sugar was out of reach.
A typical trick at the time was to cut the sugar provisions in half. Then, people would use a spoon or two of maple syrup to give it moisture and flavor. Some people also made “war cake,” which was a dessert that used maple syrup & dried fruit for the sweet flavor.
Soldiers and maple sugar in the First World War
World War II wasn’t the first time that sugar became important during the war. During the First World War, many Canadian soldiers developed a taste for maple sugar. The Department of Agriculture coordinated shipments of maple sugar to troops overseas.
Families & volunteer groups, including the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, also collected boxes of maple sugar to send as care packages. These were meant to boost the morale of soldiers fighting on the front lines.
Essentially, soldiers stuck in the trenches could get a little bit of sweetness from home. Even when they were thousands of miles away from Ontario & Quebec’s maple forests.
Government statisticians tracked the crop during WWII
Rationing took over grocery shelves & forced the Dominion Bureau of Statistics to closely watch maple production levels. Each spring, the agency tracked numbers from each major producing province. These figures included how many gallons they made & sold, as well as how much they exported.
Even during wartime, production stayed strong. It even went up in some regions because farmers recognized the demand. The more sugar the government rationed, the more syrup people wanted to replace it with.
Canada was actually the world’s major source for maple syrup & maple sugar during the war. Quebec was the highest producing region, followed shortly by Ontario, New Brunswick, & Nova Scotia.
Exports kept earning real money during the war years
The flow of maple syrup to other countries never really stopped. Canada sent barrels of syrup & blocks of maple sugar across the border every spring, mostly to the United States. Demand there stayed high.
While it wasn’t a massive industry by volume, it brought in steady foreign cash. This was rather important during a time when the war froze or redirected other trades. Farmers in Quebec & Ontario often relied on these exports to keep their operations running. The extra revenue helped to offset the limits they faced on other crops.
Food exports like maple brought in foreign currency that helped pay for war materials. Canada imported these materials from the United States and Britain. Yes, it was small compared to tanks & planes, but having steady food earnings was important.
Where maple fit on the home front
The good news for many Canadians was that maple syrup was never rationed. It quickly became the easiest sweetener to find in towns across Quebec & Ontario. People brought jars to local producers during the spring sugaring season so they could use syrup in practically everything.
In the cities, grocery stores kept shelves that were packed with Canadian maple syrup. Why? Because they needed something to use when imported sugar largely vanished.
Clearly, maple syrup was an important food when the world market went sideways. It was as much a sweetener as it was an economic cushion.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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