Rideau Canal Skateway to close for the season Wednesday

The Rideau Canal Skateway’s 56th season will be wrapping up Wednesday after a season that began on New Year’s Eve.

The National Capital Commission (NCC) has announced the last call for skating on the Rideau Canal Skateway.

The canal will be closing for the season Wednesday ahead of milder temperatures arriving later this week, officially closing at 10 p.m.

The 56^th skating season of the world-famous skateway began on Dec. 31 and was open for 56 days.

The NCC says more than one million people visited the skateway this year.

“Whenever we break a million, we’re super happy. The crews did an amazing job of keeping the ice in really, really good shape,” Tobi Nussbaum, CEO of the National Capital Commission, told CTV Your Morning Ottawa on Wednesday.

“On the Family Day weekend alone, we had 190,000 people come to the Rideau Canal. It shows you what an important part of the Ottawa culture the Rideau Canal Skateway is.”

Skaters took one last tour of the skateway in warmer than average weather. Ottawa saw a high of 7 C Wednesday afternoon.

“Yeah, it’s above zero. I figured, you know what? Why not? It’s the last day. Live a little,” said Adrian Antoniw, who went skating in shorts on Wednesday.

“It was awesome,” said Mark Northcott, who took to the ice for the first and last time this year. “Wish I’d done more.”

Last year’s skating season ended on March 10, 2025, after 52 skating days.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Peter Szperling

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App