Ottawa’s Rideau Canal set to open later on Sunday

The wait to skate on the Rideau Canal is over.

The National Capital Commission said in an update on Sunday that a portion of the famous skateway would open to the public at 12:30 p.m.

They previously reported that it would be open at 9 a.m. but said it needs more time to fully freeze after overnight flooding.

“We’re putting the final touches on the ice, and the long-awaited green flag is going up on a 1.9 km section between the Pretoria Bridge and Bank Street,” the NCC said in a post on X Saturday.

The NCC says it is working on opening more sections as soon as ice conditions become safer.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience and are thrilled to welcome skaters and visitors in the heart of the nation’s capital,” the NCC said in a statement on Saturday.

“Early winter conditions proved challenging for Skateway operations/maintenance. The NCC is continuing its partnership with Carleton University to identify strategies to adapt operations to the impacts of climate change.”

Earlier this week, the NCC said members of its maintenance team had flooded 6.2 km of the skateway. They used pumps to draw water from the canal and onto the surface to turn snow into ice.

The 7.8 km skateway, billed as the largest skating rink in the world, failed to open to skating for the first time in its history last winter due to unseasonably warm temperatures.

The canal needs at least 30 centimetres of ice for the skateway to open, which usually requires 10 to 14 days of weather between -10 C and -20 C.

Trudy Kidd, a warning preparedness meteorologist at Environment Canada, said Ottawa is looking at below-normal temperatures for the weekend, with highs of between -9 C and -13 C and lows between -10 C and -18 C.

Temperatures are expected to be warmer than usual next week, though they should remain mostly below freezing.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report