Last Frost Date Bas-Caraquet — May 17
Last frost at Bas-Caraquet: May 17. First frost: October 13. Between them, 148 frost-free days — more than Moncton, which lies further south.
Last frost date Bas-Caraquet: May 17 on average. First fall frost: October 13. Frost-free period: 148 days — 12 more than Moncton, which sits 189 km further south, and 9 fewer than Charlottetown. The Baie des Chaleurs delays the autumn frost; water decides here, not latitude. Sow tender crops in late May. Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada 1991–2020 climate normals, station BAS CARAQUET (Climate ID 8100467), completeness code C — 1991-2016, 21 years, 3 missing.
❄️ Bas-Caraquet at a glance
The two available references bracket the Peninsula without reaching it
A gardener on the Acadian Peninsula looking for a planting calendar finds Moncton or Charlottetown. Both are roughly 200 km off, and neither describes Bas-Caraquet:
Moncton — 189 km south, 136 frost-free days: 12 fewer than Bas-Caraquet.
Charlottetown — 214 km east, 157 days: 9 more.
Bas-Caraquet — 148 days, measured on site.
Neither error is enormous on its own, but they run in opposite directions, and that is what makes the substitution treacherous: nothing tells you which reference is wrong, or by how much. A local station settles it.
Bas-Caraquet among the Maritimes
Every figure below is ECCC's published frost-free period, read from this site's registry as the page rendered.
| Place | Prov. | Last frost | First frost | Frost-free days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | NS | May 10 | October 18 | 161 |
| Charlottetown | PE | May 10 | October 14 | 157 |
| Saint John | NB | May 8 | October 8 | 153 |
| Bas-Caraquet | NB | May 17 | October 13 | 148 |
| Sydney | NS | May 20 | October 10 | 143 |
| Moncton | NB | May 15 | September 28 | 136 |
| Fredericton | NB | May 17 | September 26 | 132 |
Water decides, not latitude
Bas-Caraquet looks out on the Baie des Chaleurs with the Gulf of St. Lawrence on every side. Water is slow to warm in spring and slow to cool in autumn, and a narrow point of land follows the water's curve rather than the continent's. That is why the first frost waits until October 13, while at Moncton — inland on the Petitcodiac, and further south — it arrives September 28.
Spring pays part of that back: the same cold water delays the warm-up, giving a May 17 last frost. The balance stays positive, and most of the extra season sits in the autumn — where it does the ripening rather than the sowing.
What it means for the garden
- Hardy crops — peas, spinach, radish, lettuce, onion sets — as soon as the soil can be worked, late April or early May.
- Tender crops — tomatoes, squash, beans, cucumbers, corn — late May, once soil reaches 15 °C. May 17 is an average, not a guarantee.
- The season is long enough for long crops. With 148 days, winter squash, sweet corn and mid-season tomatoes ripen without forcing.
- Salt wind is the real constraint. On an exposed point a shelterbelt does more for a garden than any variety choice, and sandy soil wants organic matter every year.
Run your own dates through the frost calculator, or see what is still worth sowing today with Can I Still Plant?.
The station, and what it actually measures
These dates come from the station ECCC publishes as BAS CARAQUET, Climate ID 8100467, at 47°48′N 64°52′W and about 10 m elevation. It is a composite: several successive stations threaded together because no single one ran for the whole period, all of them at Bas-Caraquet.
The years of record, beside the number rather than in a footnote. The frost elements rest on 1991-2016, 21 years, 3 missing, at ECCC's completeness code C. A full normal is 30 years with no gaps, which this station does not reach. Among the places added to this registry this year it is nonetheless the best-supported: Îles-de-la-Madeleine, by comparison, rests on 18 years at code D. ECCC's own guidance says a composite with 30 years and no missing years is more reliable than one with 15 years and 2 missing, and it publishes both under the same heading.
Hardiness zone: we do not publish one
This page gives a frost date and no hardiness zone. Natural Resources Canada is the only authority for one, and we have not verified it for Bas-Caraquet: we quote NRCan or we quote nobody. Computing a zone from our own data would be original research a reader could mistake for an official figure.
Check it yourself at planthardiness.gc.ca, which accepts a municipality name or coordinates. The two numbers answer different questions in any case: a zone tells you what survives the winter, a frost date tells you when to plant in spring.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the last frost date at Bas-Caraquet?
The average last spring frost at Bas-Caraquet is May 17, measured at the station ECCC calls BAS CARAQUET, Climate ID 8100467, in the 1991–2020 climate normals. The average first fall frost is October 13, and the published frost-free period is 148 days. The figure rests on 21 years of record between 1991 and 2016 with 3 missing years, at ECCC completeness code C. That is not a full 30-year normal, but it is the best-supported record among the stations added to this site's registry this year.
Can I use Moncton or Charlottetown frost dates for the Acadian Peninsula?
Neither works, and the reason is instructive: the two bracket Bas-Caraquet without matching it. Moncton, 189 km away, publishes 136 frost-free days — 12 fewer. Charlottetown, 214 km away across the strait, publishes 157 — 9 more. Bas-Caraquet sits between them at 148. Borrowing Moncton means believing the season is shorter than it is; borrowing Charlottetown means believing it is longer. A local station settles it, and the Acadian Peninsula has one.
Why is the season longer at Bas-Caraquet than at Moncton, which is further south?
Because latitude is not the deciding factor here — water is. Bas-Caraquet sits on the Baie des Chaleurs with the Gulf of St. Lawrence all around, and water delays the autumn frost: the first one holds off until October 13. Moncton is inland on the Petitcodiac, where air cools faster on clear nights. The result is counter-intuitive but consistent on the east coast: a coastal place further north can have a longer frost-free season than an inland city further south.
What hardiness zone is Bas-Caraquet?
We do not publish one, because we have not verified it. Natural Resources Canada is the only authority for a Canadian hardiness zone, and we quote NRCan or we quote nobody; computing a zone from our own data would be original research a reader could mistake for an official figure. Check directly at planthardiness.gc.ca, which accepts a municipality name or coordinates. A zone and a frost date answer different questions in any case: one is about surviving winter, the other about when to plant.
What can you grow in 148 frost-free days?
Almost anything an ordinary Canadian vegetable garden asks for. 148 days covers tomatoes, winter squash, sweet corn, beans, cucumbers and storage potatoes, on top of every cool-season crop. It is a longer season than Fredericton's 132 days or Moncton's 136. The constraint on the Acadian Peninsula is not season length but salt wind and often sandy soil: a shelterbelt and yearly organic matter matter more than any variety choice.
When can I plant tomatoes at Bas-Caraquet?
Late May or the very start of June. May 17 is the date frost has usually finished, not a guarantee: half of years see a later one, and coastal soil warms slowly in spring. Start indoors 6 to 8 weeks ahead, harden off, and set plants out once soil reaches 15 °C. With an October 13 first frost the ripening window is comfortable — there is no need to gamble in May to gain a fortnight.
How reliable is this data?
More so than most small stations. The frost elements at Bas-Caraquet rest on 21 years between 1991 and 2016 with 3 missing, and ECCC rates them completeness code C. A full normal would be 30 years with no gaps, which this station does not reach — but among the places added to this registry this year it is the best-supported record, better for instance than Îles-de-la-Madeleine's 18 years at code D. The years of record are printed next to the figure so you can judge for yourself.
Which station do these dates come from?
The station ECCC publishes as BAS CARAQUET, Climate ID 8100467, at 47°48'N 64°52'W and about 10 m elevation. Like most ECCC normals it is a composite: several successive stations threaded together because no single one ran for the whole period, all of them at Bas-Caraquet. Nothing from another part of the province is folded in. Any figure on this page can be re-checked at climate.weather.gc.ca using that Climate ID.
Related guides
Plan your 148 days
Bas-Caraquet is now in the frost calculator, the seed-starting calculator and Can I Still Plant — with its own dates, not Moncton's.
Open the frost calculator →