Flooding started, ice still thin: Here’s the latest update about the Rideau Canal Skateway

Preparations to open the Rideau Canal Skateway are underway, as deep freeze continues to linger around Ottawa this weekend.

Though the ice flooding has started, the ice is still thin, the National Capital Commission (NCC) told CTV News Ottawa in a statement, hoping that cold temperatures stay for few more days for the preparations to continue.

“Last night (Saturday night) our teams flooded a section of the Rideau Canal Skateway between Hawthorne Street and Bank Street,” the NCC said in a post on Instagram.

“They use pumps to draw water from below the ice to flood the surface and help build the ice thickness needed to safely open the Skateway."

The NCC says the ice needs to be 30 centimetres thick before it's safe for skating.

"Stay off the ice!"

Early ice flooding helps to build ice faster, the NCC adds. It says this strategy is being used as a method to adapt to the changing climate, which has been bringing milder winters.

“In light of climate change and milder winters, our priority these past several years has been to adapt our operations," the NCC said in the statement.

The NCC has been working hand in hand with Carleton University to find new solutions to adapt the Skateway operations to the capital’s new normal, milder winter. It says they have been using lighter equipment on the ice and advanced techniques to create ice earlier in the winter season.

“We are also monitoring weather and water temperatures and using our findings to explore potential adaptation strategies. We are analyzing the data and the results of our pilot projects with Carleton University and remain committed to applying what we learn going forward,” reads the statement.

Senior climatologist with Environment Canada, David Phillips, says the next few days will be the coldest of the season, which is also good for the future of the Rideau Canal, that currently has no confirmed opening date.

“This is good ice-growing weather. (people must feel thrilled) in regards to the Rideau Canal because this is something they didn't see at all last year,” said Phillips.

A high of -11 C and a low of -20 C were in the forecast for Saturday. The weather agency says Sunday's temperatures are going to be even colder with a high of -13 C and a low of -22 C.

The skateway was only open for ten skating days for the 2023-2024 season and didn't open at all the year prior. 

It has opened three times in December in the last 20 years, Dec. 28, 2004, Dec. 31, 2013 and Dec. 28, 2018. Last season, the canal opened on Jan. 21, 2024. 

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Natalie van Rooy