Rideau Canal Skateway will be closed for Family Day weekend

The red flag will continue to fly on the Rideau Canal Skateway for the final weekend of Winterlude and the Family Day long weekend.

The National Capital Commission says the Rideau Canal Skateway will remain closed through the weekend, and crews will reassess whether the skateway can open next week.

"Persistent above normal seasonal temperatures and current ice conditions prevent us from opening the Rideau Canal Skateway this week," the NCC said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

"We remain hopeful that we’ll be able to welcome skaters to the Skateway this year. We will reassess conditions in the middle of next week after 48 hours of colder weather."

The world's largest skating rink is a popular tourist attraction in Ottawa during the winter, and one of the main attractions during the annual Winterlude festival.

However, mild temperatures this winter have created unsafe ice conditions and kept the Rideau Canal Skateway closed to skaters. 

Environment Canada's forecast calls for a low of -8 C Thursday night and -16 C on Friday, followed by above-seasonal temperatures on Saturday and Sunday. The long-range forecast does call for lows of -15 C on Monday and -14 C on Tuesday.

The latest the Skateway has ever opened before was Feb. 2, back in 2002.

It has been turned into a skating rink every winter since 1970 and has grown to a 7.8 km stretch through downtown Ottawa.

Last year the canal skating season lasted 41 days, but the 2021 season was the shortest in over a decade being open for 29 days.

The extended closure of the Rideau Canal Skateway is making international news this week.

"The world's largest outdoor ice rink is closed due to lack of ice," the headline on CNN stated Wednesday evening.

The lead line of the article said, "First it was ski resorts not being able to operate due to the climate crisis. Now, the world's largest outdoor ice rink is facing the possibility of a season fully closed, due to a lack of ice."

The Guardian headline on Wednesday said, "World's largest skating rink on thin ice as Canada's warm winter prevents opening."

The article notes Ottawa "is in the grips of its third-warmest winter ever recorded", and the Rideau Canal Skateway "may not open this winter for the first time in five decades, due to a lack of ice."

Bruce Devine, the NCC's senior manager responsible for the Rideau Canal Skateway, told the Guardian the ice is porous is several spots and "of not very good quality."

With files from The Canadian Press