FAQ

OttawaPublicSkating.ca is an easy way for parents, skaters, and players to quickly find drop-in skating sessions at arena facilities in Ottawa, Canada. Whether you are new to skating, getting back into it, or looking to take your skills to the next level, this free community tool is for you. Since drop-in skating times at municipal and private arenas differ from facility to facility, and rink schedules change from time to time, we compiled all of this information for arenas in Ottawa so busy rink patrons, like us, can conveniently and centrally find public skate timings with one lightning-fast search!

OttawaPublicSkating.ca is free, simple to use, and mobile-friendly. Users can centrally search and filter the kinds of skating sessions available (e.g. public skating, family skating, etc.) by date and location. Based on your search, the calendar will display all the available time slots. By clicking on a particular date, you will see a complete listing of all entries for that day in a pop-up display. Each skate time entry is hyperlinked back to the facility’s website so users can verify the schedule, fees, and other details before making their plans or leaving home. That last step is important because we’re a team of volunteer parents and — despite our best efforts — mistakes sometimes do happen!

We believe in the power of sports and exercise to enrich and transform all of our lives. Skating is a particularly important part of healthy living in Canada. Not only is it essential for national ice sports like hockey, figure skating, and ringette, it’s a great way to make friends and build community. We are incredibly lucky to live in a city with great arenas that are open to the public all year round to learn to skate, improve their technique, or participate in ice activities at an affordable cost. By creating and maintaining OttawaPublicSkating.ca, we want to make the experience of finding and accessing skating easier for everyone. As we build out features and capabilities, we will always be free to use.

 

Users can search on the following categories of drop-in skating sessions at arenas (list subject to change): 

  • Public skating

  • Family skating

  • 50+ skating 

  • Adult skating

  • Speed skating

  • Figure skating

  • Preschool stick and puck

  • Pick-up hockey

  • Roller hockey

  • Rollerskating

  • Shinny hockey