Rideau Canal opening for Family Day skating amid bitter cold in Ottawa

Families will be able to lace up for another rare session on the Rideau Canal skateway today.

Frigid temperatures overnight allowed staff to sweep, grade and flood the ice along a two-kilometre stretch between the Pretoria Bridge and Bank Street.

The National Capital Commission promises that this morning’s brisk weather is helping to “firm everything up” so the canal can open at noon.

0:29 Ottawa’s Rideau Canal closed days after opening for season

The same section opened on Sunday for a brief period — but ice conditions were so poor that the commission said skating wasn’t such a good idea.

An even shorter stretch opened for four days in January before warmer-than-average temperatures forced the canal’s closure.

Last year, the canal didn’t open to skaters at all for the first time in its 53-year history.