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 green flag is flying on the world's largest skating rink.
All 7.8 kilometres of the Rideau Canal Skateway is open 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.
Lily Newton, 6, out for a skate on the Rideau Canal Skateway during lunch break from school. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa)
ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ON THE PARKWAY
If you don't want to go skating, you can walk, run or cycle along the Queen Elizabeth Driveway 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.
Former Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil and his friends invite you to skate on Ottawa's newest outdoor skating rail.
Icelynd Skating Trails and Outdoor Skating Rink is located on Fernbank Road, just minutes outside of Stittsville.
Skate through the trails in the forest this weekend. Passes must be purchased in advance.
For more information, visit icelynd.com.
Icelynd Skating Trails is Stittsville’s newest attraction which offers an intimate experience through the dense forest brush as well as a professionally maintained outdoor rink in Stittsville. (Tyler Fleming / CTV News)
Skate through an orchard, forest and meadows at RiverOak Winter Trails on York's Corners Road in Ottawa.
If you don't want to skate, RiverOak also provides snowshoe and hiking trails.
For more information, visit https://www.riveroak.ca/skating.
Skaters enjoy the RiverOak Skating Trail in Metcalfe on Thursday, Feb 4, 2021. (Katie Griffin/CTV Ottawa).
Countryside Adventures offers you a three kilometre skate through the woods.
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/.
Scott Anderson heads onto the three-kilometre skating trail at Countryside Adventures in Moose Creek, Ont. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)
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/
The map at the Little Penguin Trail in Gatineau, Que., showing the different loops and paths skaters can take. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)
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
Fresh snow awaits you this weekend 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
Over 100 kilometres of trails are groomed in Ottawa for winter recreational activities.
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 and the Rideau Winter Trail along the Rideau River.
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 Ottawa Farmers Market Winter Market is open every Sunday at Lansdowne Park.
The market is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Aberdeen Pavilion.
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.
For Station 53, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx6dyMNVkLE
For Station 73, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3hqBTnW29k
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.
The National Arts Centre presents Fridays at the Fourth with Matt Boudreau.
Enjoy a Facebook Live concert featuring Matt Boudreau Friday at 8:30 p.m.
For more information, visit https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/29931.
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
Fourth-grade teacher Irma Garcia was killed in her Texas classroom on Tuesday, massacred along with her co-teacher and 19 students. Two days later, a family member says her brokenhearted husband died.
A 10-year-old boy in a classroom just down the hallway from the room where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday said the experience of hiding during the shooting was 'terrifying.'
In the wake of a horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has signalled that the Canadian government will be moving ahead on new gun-control measures 'in the coming weeks.' In previous Parliaments, the Liberals have made changes to Canada's gun laws, but in the 2021 federal election, Trudeau promised to go further.
One man is dead after being shot by police near a Toronto elementary school on Thursday afternoon. The incident sent hundreds of students into lockdown.
Former Canadian gymnast Abby Pearson Spadafora said on Thursday she had suffered years of abuse at the hands of Olympic coach Dave Brubaker and his wife Elizabeth and called for an independent investigation of the sport.
The National Rifle Association begins its annual convention in Houston on Friday, and leaders of the powerful gun-rights lobbying group are gearing up to "reflect on" -- and deflect any blame for -- the deadly shooting earlier this week of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Russia's actions in Ukraine provide enough evidence to conclude that Moscow is inciting genocide and committing atrocities intended to destroy the Ukrainian people, according to the first independent report into allegations of genocide in that country.
Canadian Blood Services wants to scrap a lifetime ban on sex workers giving blood in a further move to make blood donation more equitable. The blood-donation service this month recommended to Health Canada that it abolish the lifetime ban on donation by people who have taken money or drugs in exchange for sex.
A massive Russian plane that was grounded at Toronto Pearson International Airport back in February is racking up a substantial parking bill.
A retired senior Mountie has described to an inquiry his dismay that it took five hours before anyone told him about eyewitnesses who had encountered a mass killer while fleeing the 2020 shootings in Nova Scotia.
Halifax Regional Police is investigating a report of "multiple shots fired" in a neighbourhood in Dartmouth, N.S.
Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting a decrease in new deaths, cases and hospitalizations in the province's weekly COVID-19 update.
One man is dead after being shot by police near a Toronto elementary school on Thursday afternoon. The incident sent hundreds of students into lockdown.
Prosecutors and defence lawyers are expected to make their final pitch today to jurors hearing the sex assault trial of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard.
Heading out this weekend? Well, there are several road and subway closures in Toronto to keep in mind.
Quebec Premier François Legault may not have expected quite this type of fallout from Bill 96, but he found himself hammered by questions on Thursday -- about Quebec independence.
Quebec says it is ready to vaccinate people who have come into close contact with monkeypox as soon as Friday.
There are about 30 SIDS deaths per year in Quebec, occurring during a child's first year of life. About two-thirds are not only unexpected but are also unexplained. A recent study published in The Lancet, however, has yielded some important and 'interesting' clues about one possible cause of SIDS.
A woman from Hamilton, Ont. is now a multimillionaire after she won the $60-million Lotto Max jackpot.
A massive Russian plane that was grounded at Toronto Pearson International Airport back in February is racking up a substantial parking bill.
One man is dead after being shot by police near a Toronto elementary school on Thursday afternoon. The incident sent hundreds of students into lockdown.
An arrest has been made in connection with a homicide investigation in Lambton County,
A team of investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada were deployed to London Thursday in regards to a plane crash involving a small aircraft.
One man is dead after being shot by police near a Toronto elementary school on Thursday afternoon. The incident sent hundreds of students into lockdown.
A man told court Thursday he was ready to accept punishment after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his three-year-old daughter.
Fourth-grade teacher Irma Garcia was killed in her Texas classroom on Tuesday, massacred along with her co-teacher and 19 students. Two days later, a family member says her brokenhearted husband died.
While his job was to keep the school's hallways clean, his impact went far beyond that – touching the lives of the students who walked within them.
Basketball and hip hop collided in the Royal City Thursday night.
A Kitchener family has raised concerns about a recent act of vandalism and they're frustrated with the response they received from the Waterloo Regional Police Service.
Waterloo regional police are asking for the public’s help to find a missing 11-year-old girl.
The Edmonton Oilers defeated their Alberta rival Calgary Flames 5-4 in overtime in Game 5 of their second-round NHL playoff series Thursday night to advance to the Western Conference final.
A Calgary judge has sentenced a young man who shot and killed another man to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years.
The CFL Players' Association ratified its new collective bargaining agreement with the CFL on Thursday night.
Outcry over the planned location of public washrooms caused Tuesday's city council meeting to stretch late into the evening.
A Saskatchewan woman’s granddaughter is being recognized for helping save her life and minimizing the effects of stroke after she called 911.
PGA Tour Canada is getting back into the swing of things this weekend after more than 990 days since the last shot, and the third stop on the tour is in Waskesiu at Elk Ridge Resort.
Captain Connor McDavid secured the Edmonton Oilers' ticket into the Western Conference Final with an overtime goal.
The spring sitting of the Alberta Legislature wrapped up two weeks earlier than expected Thursday with the NDP continuing to hammer the government on a promise to deliver utility rebates to Albertans.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi has two weeks to provide a new plan to the province, after the justice minister accused him on Thursday of "not providing or maintaining adequate and effective policing services."
The Fraser Valley Regional District is urging those living in low-lying areas to have "go kits" ready and important documents easily accessible should homes have to be quickly evacuated.
Data released Thursday by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control provides some insight into just how much overcounting of COVID-19 deaths the switch to "30-day, all-cause mortality" has created.
Waiting for passports has been stressful and heartbreaking for the family of a B.C. cancer patient who wants to travel with her grandchildren to Disneyland while there's still time.
A 57-year-old man from the R.M. of Lajord is dead after the road maintenance vehicle he was driving collided with a train on Thursday afternoon.
A Saskatchewan woman’s granddaughter is being recognized for helping save her life and minimizing the effects of stroke after she called 911.
Another tentative deal between the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Canadian Football League Players’ Association (CFLPA) has been reached.
