Ottawa doesn't just tolerate winter, it builds a whole city of ice around it. Between the National Capital Commission, the City of Ottawa, community associations, and a handful of private landowners who turned their fields into rinks, the region has one of the widest spreads of outdoor skating in the country. This list was put together from official venue pages, city facility listings, and local coverage of each spot, and it sticks to rinks that were confirmed operating for the current or most recent winter season.
1. Rideau Canal Skateway
Area: Downtown Ottawa to Dow's Lake · Specialty: 7.8 km of naturally frozen ice, Guinness World Record holder for the world's largest skating rink
The canal is the rink Ottawa is known for internationally, running from downtown out to Dow's Lake with about 30 staircases and five universal access ramps along the route. It typically opens in late December and stays open into late February or March depending on ice conditions, which the NCC posts twice daily while it's running, and BeaverTails stands along the route are as much a part of the experience as the skating itself.
2. Rink of Dreams
Area: Downtown, at Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West
This 12,500-square-foot refrigerated rink sits right in front of City Hall and runs from December through the end of March, with hours stretching to 11 p.m. most nights. It comes with outdoor speakers, picnic tables, a changing hut, skate rental and sharpening, and a BeaverTails trailer, which makes it one of the more amenity-heavy free options downtown. Its central location and evening lighting make it a popular after-work stop for people skating on their way home rather than planning a whole outing.
3. Lansdowne Skating Court
Area: Lansdowne Park, Princess Patricia Way
Free and refrigerated, the Lansdowne rink runs daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and sits beside the historic Aberdeen Pavilion, which gives it one of the better backdrops of any rink on this list. Skaters need to bring their own skates since there's no rental on site, but the surrounding restaurants, cinema, and shops at Lansdowne make it easy to turn a skate into a longer outing.
4. Ben Franklin Place Rink
Area: Centrepointe, 101 Centrepointe Drive
This refrigerated neighbourhood rink runs daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., weather permitting, with a skate-changing hut on site and washroom access inside Ben Franklin Place during building hours. It's smaller than the downtown rinks and sits in a residential area, so it tends to fill up with local families rather than tourists, and it's the kind of rink regulars come back to season after season.
5. Rideau Hall Rink
Area: 1 Sussex Drive, on the grounds of the Governor General's residence · Since: 1872
The rink at Rideau Hall traces back to 1872, when Lady Dufferin had it built for public skating on the residence grounds, making it one of the oldest continuously used skating spots in the country. A newly refrigerated ice surface opened to the public in November 2025, extending the season and giving skaters more reliable ice than the old natural surface could guarantee. Public skating runs free on weekday evenings and weekend afternoons, with the restored Winter Pavilion available for warming up and lacing up.
6. Jim Tubman Chevrolet Rink
Area: Canterbury Recreation Complex, Alta Vista · Since: 2017
Built in 2017 through a partnership between the City of Ottawa and the Canterbury Community Association, this rink sits in the Canterbury Recreation Complex off Arch Street. The community association runs its own schedule for the ice on top of general public skating, and its neighbourhood feel makes it a fixture for Alta Vista families rather than a citywide draw.
7. Brewer Park Oval
Area: Brewer Park, 100 Brewer Way, across from Carleton University
Brewer Park Oval is a 400-metre lighted long-track oval built and maintained entirely by volunteers from the Ottawa Pacers and Gloucester Concordes speed skating clubs, and it hosts events like the Ontario Speed Skating Championships. It's not a casual leisure rink so much as a training and competition venue, and it's been reported as one of the last outdoor speed skating ovals of its kind in Ontario.
8. Icelynd Skating Trails
Area: 6865 Fernbank Road, Stittsville
Icelynd is a paid, private attraction with more than two kilometres of natural ice trails winding through nearly 100 acres of forest, lit in the evenings by string lights. It's built more as an experience than a straightforward rink, and reviewers describe it as a magical nighttime outing rather than a place to run hockey drills. Tickets run separately for children, youth, and adults, so it suits a planned family outing more than a spontaneous skate.
9. RiverOak Estates Skating Trail
Area: 2900 York's Corners Road, Metcalfe
RiverOak is a private, paid attraction with roughly 3.5 kilometres of trail winding through an apple orchard, sugarbush, and evergreens, plus open ice areas for pickup hockey. Visitors can warm up in a heritage lodge, grab food from the on-site café, or sit by the fire with cider, and reviews consistently mention the well-maintained ice and the atmosphere created by the string lights through the trees. It suits people looking for a full outing rather than a quick skate, since the orchard setting is part of the draw.
10. Canada Agriculture and Food Museum Skating Rink
Area: 901 Prince of Wales Drive, Central Experimental Farm
This rink sits under the museum's pavilion on the working farm grounds and runs Wednesday through Sunday during the season. Helmets are mandatory for skaters ten and under and for anyone new to skating, which makes it one of the more beginner-friendly options on this list, and its farm setting gives it a different atmosphere than the downtown rinks.
