Toronto relaxes COVID-19 rink rules as winter activities move ‘toward normal’
Toronto is relaxing its rules for the COVID-19 pandemic and has now opened outdoor rinks across the city.
The city announced the new direction to its COVID-19 rink program this week, after a recommendation by Toronto Hydro.
“We’ve been working closely with the health department and are now looking at the best ways to make sure people have the best experience in our outdoor rinks,” Mayor John Tory said in a statement.
“Outdoor ice rinks are important to us and we want to continue to provide them while keeping our city safe as we move toward winter activities,” he continued.
As temperatures decrease and public health officials recommend non-risk outdoor ice rinks become more common, this change could be welcomed by the roughly 400 hockey rinks that still operate in Toronto.
Some were disappointed to hear that the program is being updated. “Why is there going to be a change? So many people were doing it for free and then they said we’re going to do it, but why?” says Kevin McCallister, who runs a rink in Mississauga called the Blue Dragon.
It’s no longer free to operate an outdoor hockey rink in Toronto, as some parks and reserves now charge for use.
The city also said it will increase the number of times outdoor rinks can be put to use during certain months. The program allows outdoor rinks to be open from 4:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends from March 1 until April 20, 2020.
The program allows outdoor rinks to be open up to 2 p.m. on Monday and 1 p.m. on Tuesday to serve “a greater number of hockey families,” City of Toronto officials said in a statement.
The city had previously