Towns around Quebec City are installing refrigerated rinks to extend the skating season

Heavy rain and mild temperatures this month have left the hockey rink and forested ice path in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, a 30-minute drive west of Quebec City, unusable.

Eighty per cent of the ice has disappeared, and staff will have to water the area day and night for about a week to restore it.

But 2025 will bring something new for the town — one of the rinks at Grand-Héron park will be refrigerated and covered to extend the skating season.

"It's a trend we see more and more in Quebec," said Martin Pouliot, the director for sport, leisure, culture and community life services at Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier.

The town is following the lead of other municipalities in the Quebec City area such as Saint-Grabriel-de-Valcartier, Stoneham and Saint-Apollinaire.

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At Saint-Apollinaire's Espace Philippe Boucher, a refrigerated exterior concrete slab protected by a wooden roof has welcomes skaters since November 19. 

"It's one of the best decisions we've made at the municipality for a long time," said Saint-Apollinaire mayor, Jonathan Moreau. This is the second year the rink is open.

During the week of Dec. 18, despite the rain, the rink was only closed for a few hours as a preventive measure to protect the ice when temperatures reached 10 C.

Last season, only a major snow storm forced the rink to close for the day. 

In Stoneham, a refrigerated rink covered by a metal roof is entering its third season, providing a skating surface from mid November to mid April. 

The town's director of recreation, Gaétane Deschênes, says refrigerated rinks stay open for twice as long as regular outdoor rinks. 

"It's very rare that we're able to keep our rinks open the first week of March," she said.

Prices are 'exploding'

Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier has a $7-million budget to replace its old rink — compared to $4.7 million spent by Saint-Apollinaire last year and $2.9 million spent by Stoneham 2021 for their new rinks. 

"Prices have exploded [since the pandemic] for concrete, among other things," said Pouliot. 

The town wants to cover the new rink with a wooden roof to match the style of other buildings around Grand-Héron park. 

Quebec municipalities can apply to a government assistance program that helps finance sports infrastructure, covering 66 per cent of the construction costs. In the fall alone, 15 projects for covered refrigerated skating rinks were submitted.

The cost of operating these kinds of rinks is also higher: about $100,000 per year at Saint-Apollinaire and $150,000 in Stoneham. That compares to $42,000 Stoneham spent in 2020-21 for maintenance of a non-refrigerated rink.

The beginning of the season has been the busiest for Saint-Apollinaire as people come from all over to skate before non-refrigerated rinks are open. 

"We have people from Quebec City who come to Saint-Apollinaire to skate," said Moreau. 

Outside of winter, the concrete slab is used to play pickleball and ball hockey, and becomes a venue for shows, municipal parties, public markets and a shelter for children on the playground.