CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at activities to do in Ottawa, eastern Ontario and western Quebec during Ontario’s modified Step 2 restrictions.
Check the COVID-19 restrictions in effect in each province before heading out this weekend.
A full list of Quebec restrictions can be found here. A full list of Ontario restrictions can be found here.
The Rideau Canal Skateway is open for the season.
You can skate the full 7.8 km stretch of the Rideau Canal Skateway between the National Arts Centre and Hartswell Locks.
The NCC is recommending people wear a mask or face covering while on the skateway, while masks will be mandatory in washrooms and in lines at concession stands.
All changing facilities and fire pits will remain closed this winter due to the COVID-19 public health measures.
The Queen Elizabeth Driveway is open for active transportation this weekend.
The NCC is closing a section of Queen Elizabeth Driveway from Fifth Avenue to Somerset Street to vehicles Saturday and Sunday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
For more information, visit the National Capital Commission's website.
You can go for a skate at one of Ottawa's outdoor refrigerated rinks.
Rink of Dreams at Ottawa City Hall
Lansdowne Park Skating Court
Ben Franklin Place Skating Rink
Jim Tubman Chevrolet Rink
Residents must book reservations at ottawa.ca/skating to skate at the four rinks during peak periods.
For a list of outdoor rinks in the city of Ottawa, visit https://ottawa.ca/en/recreation-and-parks/skating/outdoor-rinks.
People ice skate on the Rink of Dreams at City Hall in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Ottawa's newest winter wonderland opens this weekend.
Icelynd Skating Trails and Outdoor Skating Rink is located on Fernbank Road, just minutes outside of Stittsville.
Passes must be purchased in advance.
For more information, visit icelynd.com.
RiverOak Winter Trails on York's Corners Road in Ottawa offers you the chance to skate through an orchard, forest and meadows.
If you don't want to skate, RiverOak also provides snowshoe and hiking trails.
For more information, visit https://www.riveroak.ca/skating.
Discover the Little Penguin Trail, an outdoor skating rink built on the Touraine Golf Club.
Located just 25 minutes from downtown Ottawa on Chemin Tache in Gatineau, enjoy skating on over 5 kilometres of icy path in the middle of nature.
A daily pass starts at $15.
For more information, visit https://thelittlepenguintrail.com/
Skate through the forest 45 minutes from downtown Ottawa.
Discover the enchanting site of skating in the forest at Patinage en Foret in Lac-Des-Loups, Que.
Proof of vaccination and photo ID is required to access Patinage en Foret. The cost is $18 for adults and $14 for kids.
For more information, visit https://www.patinageenforet.com/en/.
Monica Bourque, left, skates with daughter Katherine Rupay, 5, and sister Lisa Bourque at Patinage en Foret, or Skating Through the Forest, in Lac des Loups, Quebec, on Friday, Jan. 26, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Enjoy a three kilometre skate through the woods at Countryside Adventures.
There's also three kilometres of snowshoe and cross-country ski trails, along with a tubing hill.
Countryside Adventures is located at 16495 Sixth Rd. in Moose Creek, 45 minutes north of downtown Ottawa.
For more information, visit https://www.countrysideadventures.ca/.
Enjoy this week's fresh snow in Gatineau Park.
You can enjoy cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snow biking and winter hiking.
For more information and winter passes to access the park, visit https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places/gatineau-parkhttps://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places/gatineau-park
David Hetherington cross-country skis on the morning of Christmas Eve at Gatineau Park near Chelsea, Quebec, on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2013. Despite the sun, a -31 C wind chill was expected in the region Tuesday morning and a frostbite advisory was issued by Ottawa Pulic Health. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
In Ottawa, over 100 kilometres of trails are groomed for winter recreational activities in Ottawa.
The National Capital Commission invites you to get out cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, fat biking and walking. Access is free.
Locations include the Mer Bleue conservation area.
For information on winter trails in Ottawa, visit https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places/groomed-multi-use-winter-trails
The Mooney's Bay Ski Centre at Terry Fox Athletic Facility features 5 kilometres of groomed trails for cross-country skiing, including lit trails for night skiing.
For more information, visit https://ottawa.ca/en/recreation-and-parks/sports#mooneys-bay-ski-centre
You can go for a winter hike on two trails in the Pinhey Forest in the city of Ottawa.
Year-round parking access available behind the Nepean Sportsplex.
For more information, visit https://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/index.php?url=trails/view/pinhey-forest-trails
Ski resorts are open across eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Visit each resort's website for details.
The Museoparc presents The Author's Path in Richelieu Vanier Forest.
Let yourself be seduced by the pens of authors – builders of the Franco-Ontarian identity.
"Our trail is dedicated to the men and women authors of novels, poetry, theater and folklore who have shaped the cultural heritage of French Ontario," Museoparc said, noting there are no less than 30 authors hiding in the forest.
Admission is free, while a guided tour costs $5.
For more information, visit https://museoparc.ca/the-museum/the-authors-path/.
The Ottawa Fire Service is inviting you to tour two fire stations virtually.
The service has teamed up with a local videographer to create two high-quality virtual station tours of Fire Station 53 in Orleans and Fire Station 73 in Vars.
The virtual station tours are in English with French subtitles.
The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada invites you to take a self-guided Reconciling History Walking Tour.
"Each point of interest is an opportunity to learn about the role of non-Indigenous peoples and the federal government in residential schools, and the lessons we can glean from history to address contemporary injustices experienced by Indigenous peoples," said the society.
For more information, visit https://fncaringsociety.com/reconciliation-walking-tours.
Museums in Ottawa are closed while Ontario is in a modified Stage Two. The Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau is also currently closed.
Visit each museum's website for information.
Parc Omega is open in Montebello, Que.
For more information, visit https://www.parcomega.ca/en/.
While out for a family winter hike, feed the chickadees.
You can find chickadees at Stony Swamp Conservation, Mud Lake Conservation and Mer Bleue.
For more information, visit https://ottawariverlifestyle.com/blogs/news/where-to-feed-chickadees-in-ottawa
A wave of buyer's remorse is taking shape in several heated real estate markets, after housing prices started dropping and the number of sales slowed over the last two months.
There is a cost to war — to the countries that wage it, to the soldiers who fight it, to the civilians who endure it. For nations, territory is gained and lost, and sometimes regained and lost again. But some losses are permanent. Lives lost can never be regained. Nor can limbs. And so it is in Ukraine.
Etiquette expert Julie Blais Comeau answers your questions about how to address the royal couple, how to dress if you're meeting them, and whether or not you can ask for a selfie.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests.
Saddle Lake Cree Nation in eastern Alberta is 'actively researching and investigating' the deaths of at least 200 residential school children who never came home, as remains are being found in unmarked grave sites.
The Green Party of Canada is calling on the federal government to develop a targeted anti-transgender hate strategy, citing a 'rising tide of hate' both in Canada and abroad. Amita Kuttner, who is Canada's first transgender federal party leader, made the call during a press conference on Parliament Hill on Tuesday.
The existence of unmarked graves had been a 'knowing' among residential school survivors and Indigenous elders, but the high-tech survey findings represented confirmation for Canada.
Police say the Buffalo supermarket shooter mounted a camera to his helmet to stream his assault live on Twitch. The move was apparently intended to echo the massacre in New Zealand by inspiring copycats and spreading his racist beliefs.
A new report says digital technology has become so widespread at such a rapid pace that Canadians have little idea what information is being collected about them or how it is used.
The police officer who fatally shot a 26-year-old Indigenous woman during a wellness check in Edmundston, N.B., two years ago says he doesn't know why things escalated so quickly.
When a man disguised as a Mountie started killing people in northern Nova Scotia two years ago, there was considerable confusion over who was in charge of the RCMP operation, newly released documents show.
A woman who was stabbed overnight in the Halifax area has died from her injuries.
Political analysts call Doug Ford's approach the “front-runner” strategy and say it started long before the writ was drawn.
A day after Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner was robbed of his Range Rover at gunpoint outside an Etobicoke movie theatre, Toronto police said they have already seen more carjackings so far this year than they did in all of 2021.
An Ontario man who has nearly 1 million-kilometres on his car is sharing his secret of how he did it.
Peppered with questions on Bill 96, Legault said there's been "disinformation" spreading, in his opinion -- and that on one important question, health care, many critics of the bill are wrong. In fact, the bill is confusing on that point and the details still haven't been fully explained.
Montreal public health officials are considering whether to bring back a special hotline for families with sick children to get them speedy appointments with a doctor. Hospitals are seeing an increase in visits to pediatric emergency rooms.
Montreal drivers have a lot of words to describe the city's roads in summer, when the orange pylons pop up: an obstacle course, a maze, a mess. The city's auditor general agrees and offers analysis of why in a new report.
There have been more than 107 fatalities on Ontario Provincial Police patrolled roads so far this year.
B'Nai Brith Canada presented North Bay Mayor Al McDonald with a certificate of merit Tuesday morning, honouring him for standing up to racism.
As the provincial election nears, Sault Ste. Marie incumbent Ross Romano is squaring off again against Michelle McCleave-Kennedy, who gave him a tough fight in 2018.
A police investigation has been sparked after a north London, Ont. playground was vandalized with hate symbols.
The London Fire Department responded to a fast-moving blaze early Tuesday evening in the area of Dundas Street and Lyle Street, resulting in an estimated $50,000 worth of damages.
One person is in custody for allegedly breaking and entering after a Sarnia business owner saw they were being robbed in real-time thanks to a video surveillance system.
Federal regulators are demanding answers and solutions from the bell MTS after several Manitobans have spoken out about their landline phone service which they call unacceptable.
Two Winnipeg men are facing firearm-related charges after Winnipeg police officers seized 19 guns from a home in the city’s Southwood neighbourhood.
A Manitoba mother says the use of cannabis oil has had a profound impact on the health of her child.
The search continued Tuesday for a man police say may have information about the death of an 8-year-old boy in Cambridge. Neighbours also shared their concerns about the police response.
Provincial police have launched an investigation after human remains were found in the water in Dunnville, just northwest of Port Maitland.
A contentious topic is back under review in Cambridge. City council is hearing from a number of delegates sharing their thoughts about a paintball company's land and whether it should be re-zoned.
Alberta schools boards can choose to pilot three more subjects in the new K-6 draft curriculum this fall, which is drawing criticism from some parents and student advocates.
The last time the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers faced each other in the playoffs was way back in 1991.
The ballots are in and tension is building within the United Conservative Party ahead of Wednesday's revelation of the result of Jason Kenney's leadership review.
A former employee of Epic Alliance says the firm sometimes "pushed" for higher appraisals on homes sold to landlords and would rent to tenants who would "destroy" properties
With the University of Saskatchewan research team monitoring the city's wastewater for signs of COVID-19 noting an 85 per cent drop in its latest update, experts in the city say the trend is cause for cautious optimism.
Saskatoon Police Service officers are not permitted to wear Thin Blue Line patches, according to a report to the Board of Police Commissioners.
The ballots are in and tension is building within the United Conservative Party ahead of Wednesday's revelation of the result of Jason Kenney's leadership review.
Saddle Lake Cree Nation in eastern Alberta is 'actively researching and investigating' the deaths of at least 200 residential school children who never came home, as remains are being found in unmarked grave sites.
A hunter's wife has testified she texted her husband not to drink and drive or get in a fight the night he and his uncle were shot to death on a rural Alberta road.
The soaring cost of gas is hitting charities in Metro Vancouver hard and organizations are worried they will soon have to make tough decisions and cuts to services if they don’t get some relief.
Nearly three weeks after Moderna became the first pharmaceutical company to apply for Health Canada approval of its COVID-19 vaccine for young children, the regulatory agency is tight-lipped about progress.
Volunteers with the CFB Chilliwack Historical Society are reeling after thieves broke into a military museum and stole irreplaceable items donated by war veterans and their families.
A number of social media users captured Saskatchewan's first apparent first tornado of 2022 on Tuesday evening.
Some food vendors at Mosaic Stadium are pausing preparations for the preseason as the CFL strike has potential to postpone the first exhibition game of the year.
The Williston Basin Petroleum Conference has returned to Regina after three years away due to the pandemic.
