Ontario's ice rinks are moving into the electric age, albeit slowly

Ontario is lagging behind the other provinces when it comes to greening its fleet of ice resurfacing machines at ice pads, arenas and community centres as part of the ongoing push by municipalities to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Climate change is a global problem, but local governments are often on the front lines, dealing with the effects of more frequent storms, flooding and other extreme weather events while at the same time taking on most of the responsibility and spending to reduce their frequency. 

It means big changes to the way cities operate — including at the rink, where most major cities have either gone or are about to go the same way London, Ont., has. The city announced its first electric Zamboni in August of 2021. Since then, it has been steadily decreasing its reliance on the older natural gas-powered models and converting its fleet to electric to reduce its carbon footprint. 

"The electrical Zambonis reduce emissions by 19 tonnes," Scott Prece, the manager of recreation and sports operations. "It's a substantial reduction."

Electric is greener and cheaper to run

It's not just better for the planet either — it's also good for the city budget. Resurfacing an ice pad with one of the city's natural gas-powered machines costs about $4, compared to $1 with an electric one. 

"There's a huge reduction in operational costs," he said. "The maintenance costs as well — there are less issues as far as operational challenges go with the machines." 

Electric Zambonis have been available since 1978, according to the company that manufactures them, but only recently has the company been able to build a zero-emission machine. 

While they're cheaper to maintain and operate, they are more expensive to buy. At Zamboni, the most recognized brand name in ice resurfacing on the planet, the fully electric Model 450, which uses a lithium-ion battery similar to an electric car, will set you back about $145,000. 

Greg Dean, the vice-president of sales and brand for the Zamboni Company in Brantford, Ont., said his company has been bombarded by requests from municipalities all over the country looking to green their fleet of ice resurfacing machines for the last five years. 

He said, across the country, Quebec is by far the province that has embraced electric the most. Dean said there are about 200 electric Zambonis in rinks across the province, with more arenas using ice resurfacing machines made by competitors. 

'Ontario is playing catch up'

"The Quebec market has embraced and moved ahead with electric machines much more than Ontario. Ontario is playing catch up." 

Dean said, out of Ontario's 444 municipalities, it's often the largest and wealthiest communities that are going electric, while their rural counterparts are keeping what they have.  

"A lot of them are in small towns, and a lot of them can't afford to either replace their machine or go to an electric machine."   

"It is a problem. They keep their machines for 20 to 25 years. They have an arena. They can barely keep that running." 

Part of the reason change has been so slow is because, unlike other provinces, Ontario lacks subsidies to help small towns make the switch, according to Dean. 

Unlike, say Alberta, which offers any willing municipalities to switch out their gas-guzzling ice resurfacer $50,000.

"Even in a province that is reliant on carbon for their economy, they're giving $50,000 for electric machines. We don't have that in Ontario. B.C. will give $5,000," he said. 

Dean said Zamboni looked at options to help smaller communities finance the switch. Unlike major car makers, Zamboni relies on manual labour instead of machine power to build its vehicles, he said the math doesn't make it worth it for the company to launch its own financing program. 

Dean said given the importance areas and rinks play in smaller community life, it can leave residents with few options when it comes to adapting to a warmer world. 

"These community centres and arenas are the hub of these communities. They're important to the communities. Not just for ice and hockey, but for weddings, fairs and events."

The Ontario government did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News before publication time Friday.