Less than 5 km from downtown Ottawa, the Vanier Sugar Shack is the only operating sugar shack in an urban setting in North America. Located in a 17.5-acre sugar bush in the heart of the nation’s capital, the Vanier Museopark keeps the tradition of maple syrup production alive, traditions established in Vanier by the White Fathers circa 1940.
We are proud to offer quality food from local producers in an enchanting setting where old-time charm blends with modernity. This is what you will experience at the new Vanier Sugar Shack!
Looking for a unique, urban forest setting just minutes from downtown Ottawa for your event? Vanier Sugar Shack is the place for you.
We offer different types of rentals during our low season, from May to January:
Our chef, Julien Fournier, also works to develop seasonal menus, using local produce, to accompany your events, whether for snacks, group meals or cocktail receptions. If one of our formulas doesn’t quite meet your expectations, don’t worry: we’re always ready to develop customized options to meet our customers’ needs.
Contact us to get a quote for your event: cabane@museoparc.ca or 613-842-9871, ext. 1.
April 28 marked the end of the 2024 sugar season at the Vanier Sugar Shack. You were looking forward to its return in Vanier as much as we were, and during the two and a half months we were open, the Sugar Shack welcomed the community with open arms. People were thrilled to be able to get together and share good times over a good sugar shack meal, in the only urban sugar shack in North America. In total, we served 1,570 meals and 2,690 maple taffies during the 2024 sugar season!
This year, we also had the chance to produce our own maple syrup – a first batch of syrup since 2019! Our volunteering maple syrup producers (proudly) produced and bottled 150 L of maple syrup, which represents 6,000 L of maple sap. This sap was collected with the precious help of community members who responded to our 8 sap collecting events.
We also had help from students from Ashbury College, who came to the Museopark to volunteer for a couple of hours, and they gave us a hand by picking up the pails and the taps in the maple grove.
Thanks to the work of Salomé, our volunteer manager this season, 160 volunteers came to lend a hand at the Sugar Shack during meal services. Thanks to all of you, and especially to our volunteering maple syrup producers Marc, André, Don, Pierre and Éric, to Arthur, this season’s Sugar Shack manager as well as Museopark employees Yanick, Richard, Sophia and Julien, for this first real sugar season at the new Vanier Sugar Shack. Without you, the Vanier Sugar Shack would not run as smoothly.
The Vanier Sugar Shack is located in the heart of the Richelieu Park maple sugar bush, behind the Vanier Branch of the Ottawa Public Library.
Contact Information:
Vanier Sugar Shack
320 des Pères-Blancs Avenue
Ottawa, ON
K1L 7L5
Tel.: 613-842-9871 ext. 1
Email: cabane@museoparc.ca
Parking & Accessibility:
Built in 1939 by the White Fathers of Africa, the original shack served to ensure a certain self-sufficiency for the group. In the early 1960s, they modernized their facility by building a second, more spacious sugar shack on the same site. The White Fathers left Vanier in 1976 and the production of maple syrup ceased at the same time in Richelieu Park. In the mid-1980s, the City of Vanier installed its City Hall in the buildings of Richelieu Park. The mayor at the time, Gisèle Lalonde, had the idea of reviving the sugaring parties to bring the community together and celebrate maple syrup artisanship, a French Canadian tradition. About ten years later, the group Action Vanier took over the organization of the Sugar Festival and the management of the sugar shack. A third sugar shack was built by a host of volunteers and inaugurated in 1998. Action Vanier upholds the sugaring tradition in Vanier until the winter of 2011. Since the 2012 sugar season, it is the Vanier Museopark who is responsible for perpetuating this tradition. In August 2020, the Vanier Sugar Shack was destroyed due to arson. From that moment on, the community rallied together, already discussing its reconstruction. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on December 3, 2021, and the inauguration of the new sugar shack was held on March 28, 2023. The 2023 Sugar Shack is the fourth sugar shack on the White Fathers’ domain. It remains the only urban sugar shack in North America. Built in the heart of a dense 17.5-acre maple forest with over 500 taps, the Vanier Sugar Shack produces approximately 500 litres of maple syrup each sugar season.