Hopes remain for Rideau Canal Skateway opening after last year’s historic closure

OTTAWA — Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips is hopeful Ottawa’s famed Rideau Canal will open for skating this year despite winter’s slow start.

Last year’s unseasonal warmth kept the famous skateway from opening for the first time in its history. After Ottawa experienced a nearly snowless and unusually warm December, concerns mounted that history was going to repeat itself.

Phillips said the warmer-than-usual temperatures across Canada have postponed some winter activities, but that forecasts show frigid weather heading to the North.

He said that’s what needs to happen before a city like Ottawa sees any truly cold winter temperatures.

“My sense is, there’s still a lot of cold to come,” he said. “You can’t get winter in Ottawa until it comes to Tuktoyaktuk… the North has to freeze up.”

Phillips pointed out Ottawa saw an even warmer December in 2015, but the skateway still opened after temperatures dropped in January and February. He noted 70 per cent of freezing days happen after Jan. 1. 

“We haven’t reached the dead of winter yet,” he said.

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

After last year, the National Capital Commission is bracing for potentially milder weather, including a strategy to flood the canal earlier to build ice faster.

Part of Phillips’ optimism is based on the lessons the engineers working on the canal learned from last year about how to groom the ice and make it last longer. 

“You just don’t leave it to mother nature. You’ve got to actually get in there,” he said.

NCC spokesperson Sofia Benjelloun said the NCC has been “assessing and preparing for the impacts of climate change on our assets and operations for several years.”

“Last season taught us a great deal about the effects of milder winters on the skateway.”

Benjelloun said preparations to open the canal for its 54th skating season are underway. The NCC spent nearly $1 million preparing to open last year before announcing in late February it would remain closed.

The 7.8 km skateway is the largest skating rink in the world — and a tourism draw. According to Catherine Callary, vice-president of destination development for Ottawa Tourism, the city didn’t see a big drop in tourism when the canal was closed. 

She said visitor numbers last year during Winterlude, the annual winter festival, were comparable to 2019 and 2020.

Still, Callary added her “fingers are still crossed” the canal will open. 

“I’m not counting it out,” she said. “We still have time.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 8, 2024.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press