In March and April, Quebec families drive out to the sugar shacks to eat pea soup, ham, beans and pancakes drowned in syrup, then twist hot maple taffy onto sticks in trays of snow. It is the most Canadian food experience there is, and it only happens during the few weeks when the sap runs.
The rest of the year, Canada’s food scene is best learned through its markets and its immigrants. Montreal has wood-fired bagels and smoked meat, Toronto has one of the most mixed restaurant scenes in the world, and Vancouver and Richmond have Chinese food to rival Hong Kong’s. Food walking tours are the main way visitors taste it; hands-on cooking schools are fewer than in Europe or Asia and mostly city-based.
Wine country adds tastings and farm visits: icewine in Niagara-on-the-Lake, lakeside wineries in the Okanagan, and oysters and lobster suppers on Prince Edward Island.
At a Glance#
- Market tours: Jean-Talon and Atwater markets in Montreal, St. Lawrence Market and Kensington Market in Toronto, and the Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver.
- Sugar shacks: maple feasts and taffy on snow around Montreal and Quebec City, March to April.
- Cooking schools: recreational classes in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, from French technique to dumplings.
- Wine country: icewine at Niagara-on-the-Lake, farm-to-table Prince Edward County, and the Okanagan from Kelowna to Osoyoos.
- Seafood: oysters, mussels and lobster suppers on Prince Edward Island and in Nova Scotia.
- Costs: roughly C$80 to 150 (about US$60 to 110) for a food walking tour, more for a hands-on class with a meal.
Montreal and Quebec#
Montreal is the best city in Canada for a food tour. Walking tours of the Mile End neighbourhood stop at the rival bagel bakeries on St-Viateur and Fairmount streets, where bagels are hand-rolled, boiled in honey water and baked in wood-fired ovens around the clock. Other routes take in smoked meat on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, poutine, and the cafés and épiceries of Old Montreal. Jean-Talon Market in Little Italy, open all year and largest in summer, is the base for market tours and for classes that shop first and cook after.
Sugar shacks (cabanes à sucre) open from about late February to April, mostly within an hour or two of Montreal and around Quebec City. A traditional all-you-can-eat meal runs roughly C$35 to 60 per adult, served at long shared tables, and many shacks show how sap is boiled down; some open year-round for groups. Day tours from Montreal include transport. In Quebec City, food walks through Old Quebec pair well with a drive to Île d’Orléans, an island of farms selling strawberries, cider, blackcurrant liqueur and cheese.
Toronto and Ontario#
Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market has been trading since 1803 and is the city’s food landmark; tours start early, and the peameal bacon sandwich is the obligatory stop. Food walks through Kensington Market and Chinatown cover Caribbean patties, Portuguese bakeries and dim sum within a few blocks, and longer tours head out to the South Asian and Chinese neighbourhoods of the suburbs. Recreational cooking schools in the city run evening classes in everything from pasta to Korean food.
Niagara-on-the-Lake is Ontario’s wine capital, with dozens of wineries within a short drive and tastings of icewine, made from grapes frozen on the vine. Cycling tours between wineries are popular, and the Niagara Icewine Festival runs in January. Prince Edward County, on Lake Ontario, is smaller and more relaxed, with small wineries, cideries, cheesemakers and farm restaurants. Summer and early autumn are the time to go, when farm stands are open and many wineries run vineyard lunches and harvest dinners.
Vancouver and British Columbia#
The Granville Island Public Market is Vancouver’s market-tour hub, packed with fishmongers, bakers and stalls selling smoked salmon. The city has several cooking schools offering evening classes with dinner, typically around C$150 per person and up. For Chinese food, the restaurants of Richmond are the draw; its long-running summer night market closed for good after the 2026 season. Indigenous cooking, with bannock, salmon and game, appears on a growing number of menus and tours.
The Okanagan valley holds most of British Columbia’s wineries, strung along the lakes from Osoyoos through Penticton and the Naramata Bench to Kelowna. Wineries offer tastings, vineyard lunches and some cooking events, and fruit stands sell cherries in July and peaches in August. Near Victoria, the Cowichan Valley around Duncan has farms, wineries and cideries on Vancouver Island.
Atlantic Canada#
Prince Edward Island is the place to eat seafood. Oyster tours on the bays teach you to shuck the island’s oysters, community lobster suppers have run for decades, and the PEI Fall Flavours festival in September brings chefs’ dinners and kitchen parties around the island. Cooking classes in the countryside near Charlottetown focus on island produce, mussels and lobster.
In Nova Scotia, the Annapolis Valley around Wolfville has wineries producing Tidal Bay, a crisp white made for seafood, and Lunenburg and Digby are known for scallops. In St. John’s, Newfoundland, food walks cover cod, toutons and fish and brewis, and bars on George Street run the “screech-in”, a mock ceremony with rum and a kiss for a cod.
Costs and booking#
- Food walking tours: roughly C$80 to 150 per person for three hours with tastings. Most run year-round in Montreal and Toronto, but some go weekends-only in winter.
- Cooking classes: about C$100 to 200 for a three-hour hands-on class with dinner, depending on the city and the menu.
- Wine tastings: small fees per flight, often waived if you buy bottles; book ahead for weekends in summer.
- Sugar shacks: book weekend sittings weeks ahead in March and April, when they fill with families.
- Tipping: tip guides 15 to 20 percent as you would a server.
Plan a spring trip to Quebec around the sugaring season. A weekday sugar shack visit in late March is quieter, cheaper on some menus and still has snow for the taffy.
For regional dishes across the continent, see the North America food and cuisine guide and the world food and cuisine guide. Our Canada first-timer’s guide covers tipping and restaurant customs.
Best places for food tours in Canada#
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More Things to Do#
Canada cooking class FAQs#
What is a sugar shack in Quebec?
A cabane à sucre is a maple farm that serves a hearty all-you-can-eat meal during sugaring season, roughly late February to April. Expect pea soup, ham, beans, eggs and pancakes with syrup, followed by maple taffy rolled on snow.
Where is the best food tour in Canada?
Montreal, for its bagels, smoked meat, markets and bistros, all within walking distance. Toronto’s St. Lawrence and Kensington markets and Vancouver’s Granville Island are the other main choices.
How much does a cooking class cost in Canada?
A three-hour hands-on class with a meal usually costs about C$100 to 200 per person. Food walking tours are a little cheaper, at roughly C$80 to 150.
What is Canadian icewine?
A sweet dessert wine made from grapes left to freeze on the vine and pressed while frozen. Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula is the main producer, and wineries around Niagara-on-the-Lake offer tastings year-round.
When is the best time for food tours in Canada?
Summer and early autumn, when markets are fullest and farms and wineries are open. Late March and April are the time for Quebec sugar shacks, and PEI’s Fall Flavours festival runs in September.