NCC explores adapting standards around opening Rideau Canal Skateway

The National Capital Commission opened the Rideau Canal Skateway below its usual standards for ice thickness for part of last season — and plans to do the same this year. 

Bruce Devine, the commission's senior manager of facilities and programs, says the usual standard for ice thickness of 30 centimetres is based on the heavy equipment used to prepare the rink. 

But after the skateway didn't open in 2023 and without much snow last season, the commission used lighter equipment to prepare the ice.

"In 2024, we were lucky," Devine said in a French-language interview with Radio-Canada. "We didn't have much snow. We didn't have to worry about that."

Now the NCC — charged with maintaining the skateway — is exploring how to adapt its standards to open the ever-popular winter attraction as often as it can.   

The commission has long said it needs 10 to 14 days of consecutive cold weather for ice to reach a thickness of 30 centimetres. 

But according to research used by the Carleton University team tasked with extending the skating season, winters could see 35 per cent fewer days below –10 degrees by 2050.

In an internal memo dated Feb. 16,  2024 — released as part of an access to information request — NCC staff discuss that a manageable risk "would be to reduce the ice thickness by 10% to 27 cm."

It also mentions a reduction in the percentage of ice protruding above water level, called freeboard, to only eight per cent. 

"This is an exception to accommodate a partial opening with reduced programming and special measures as transmitted to us, and is not the new standard of the Ice Safety Committee," the email goes on to read.

Included in those emails is also one to the NCC from a company contracted for ice maintenance, expressing concern over changing the standards. 

"It is our firm belief that opening the skateway with less than the mandated thickness poses risks to public safety, and RCS crew, CPG cannot be held liable for any consequences arising from such actions," it reads.

Devine said that, while last season's ice wasn't of extraordinary quality, it was safe to be on.

"You can have any thickness of ice you want, but if it is poor quality and not capable of supporting weights, you can go through it," he said. 

In 2024, the ice thickness of the Rideau Canal Skateway actually increased between its opening and closing.

But its quality followed the opposite trend, with the proportion of white ice – considered to be poorer in quality – was higher.

Last season, fire pits were removed in an effort to stop crowding. 

The NCC also recommended, at times, that people walk on the ice instead of skate. 

The commission says in years past, hundreds of thousands of people have used what is the world's largest skating rink.

During the 2018-2019 season, the NCC recorded 1,493,524 visits on the skateway, a record for the UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

Ottawa Tourism's Jérôme Miousse says while it's difficult to give an exact number of how many people come to the capital just to skate on the canal, it is a bucket-list item for many. 

"It's been more difficult to reliably promote the canal as a reason for people to come to Ottawa," he said. 

With fewer frigid days in the seasons ahead, he says the capital's winter tourism offers will need to diversify. 

"The tourism industry as a whole needs to rethink how we do winter," Miousse said. 

"Definitely we need alternatives: activities and attractions that are less dependent on the winter."