Busiest season on the Rideau Canal Skateway in six winters

The view of the Rideau Canal Skateway from the Corktown Footbridge in Ottawa. (Andrew Adlington/CTV News Ottawa)

The Rideau Canal Skateway is enjoying its busiest season in six years, as the green flag continues to fly on the world’s largest skating rink.

Tuesday is the 39th day of skating on the Rideau Canal Skateway since a four-kilometre stretch initially opened on Jan. 11. The full 7.8 km of the Skateway opened for skaters on Jan. 18.

The National Capital Commission (NCC) has counted over 800,000 visits to the Skateway since Jan. 11, and the one-millionth visit is expected to happen this week.

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“The NCC is pleased with how the 2024-2025 season of the Rideau Canal Skateway is going so far,” NCC spokesperson Maryam El-Akhrass said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

“Consistently cold temperatures combined with the hard work of our crews is giving visitors to the Skateway generally excellent ice conditions, and the new walking lane is a welcome addition. We hope the weather allows us to welcome skaters and walkers for many weeks to come.”

The NCC says the over 800,000 visits are the most visits to the Rideau Canal Skateway since the 2018-2019 season, when a record 1.49 million visits were recorded during the 59 days of skating.

Since 2010, the skating season on the Rideau Canal Skateway has extended into March 5 times, with the season ending on March 10, 2018 and March 5, 2022.