Even Quebec City no longer relying on cold to keep outdoor rinks open

When Yvan Cournoyer was a young boy, he suspects he spent more time clearing the snow from the outdoor rinks than skating on them. 

Standing on a newly built refrigerated and covered ice rink in Quebec City — courtesy of the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation — the former Canadiens winger and 10-time Stanley Cup champion says nowadays, kids playing outdoor ice hockey have a different struggle.

Even Quebec City, one of the capitals of winter, known for its ice hotel, ice slide and winter carnival, is not immune to climate change and has been forced to adapt to warmer weather.

In December, Quebec City mayor Bruno Marchand announced that the city would invest $45 million into its climate change reserve, with part of the sum being used to refrigerate outdoor rinks to safeguard one of Canada's favourite outdoor winter sports.

"We are a winter town," said Marchand. "We are skaters. We are people enjoying winters. We need to adapt ourselves."

Last season, he said the public, unrefrigerated rinks were only open 50 out of 150 days — a third of the season.

"Because of climate change, because of rain, because of warming weather …our winters are changing," said Marchand, skating on the newly constructed rink in Victoria Park.

"It's a problem because our kids, our elders, our people are unable to skate anymore."

Marchand says he hopes to see Quebec City become one of the most active cities in Canada. He says it needs infrastructure to get there.

"It's a place where you can learn to skate. It's a place where you can learn to be yourself, to meet friends," said Marchand.

To successfully flood a skating rink without the use of refrigeration, temperatures have to stay below -5 C for at least three days, says Lawrence Mysak, professor emeritus of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at McGill University.

Over a decade ago, Mysak co-authored a paper on how climate change has the potential to negatively impact outdoor ice skating. The study found that the number of viable rink-flooding days could reach zero by mid-century.

"At the end of our paper, we said that in over a 30-year period, probably the outdoor [skating] season would be much shorter. And I'm sure that's the case today because in the last 20 years, we've had a lot of warming," said Mysak.

He says outdoor rinks were a big part of his upbringing, as they're an opportunity for kids, teenagers and adults to participate informally and in the community.