Free public skating will return to Quaker Foods City Square in downtown Peterborough on Saturday (December 13), if the weather cooperates.
This is the fourth season for the public ice skating rink, which opened in winter 2022-23.
Located off Charlotte Street just east of Aylmer, the rink will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
A portable washroom is located on site, with heated public washrooms available at the Peterborough Public Library on Aylmer Street North just south of Charlotte when the library is open.
The city is asking rink users are asked to follow all posted rules, including wearing skates at all times while on the rink, CSA-approved helmets for children six and under, and active supervision of children under 10 by a person 16 years of age or older.
No food or drink is permitted on the ice, and speed and figure skating, organized hockey, and the use of sticks and pucks is not permitted. Mobility aids, sledge devices, and approved skating aids are permitted.
Parking is available along Charlotte and King streets and at the King Street parking garage.
While the city has been preparing the rink to open, snowfall could affect ice making and delay the scheduled opening. Visit peterborough.ca/skate for information on the rink’s status and a complete list of rink rules.
As for public skating on the Trent Canal near the Peterborough Lift Lock, the city no longer monitors ice conditions or maintains an ice rink on the canal. The $100,000 maintenance cost for those activities was cut from the city’s 2025 budget and was not restored in the city’s 2026 budget, which was approved this week.
However, in winter 2024-25, community members were regularly clearing the ice of snow on a section of the Trent Canal a few hundred metres south of the lift lock and north of the first rail bridge,
