The Open Ice pilot challenges one of hockey’s most widely held assumptions: that the problem is a lack of ice. By making usage visible for the first time, the findings point to untapped capacity and new opportunities to improve access across communities.
Canadians love hockey and all the good things it brings. But too many are being shut out of the game.
Why? Because they can't get ice time.
And they're not alone. People from other ice sports, like figure skating and ringette, face the same problem.
Across the country, our ice rinks – the home of hockey – are struggling to meet a growing demand for ice access amid soaring operational costs. Unless we can find new ways to help them, many will be forced to close their doors, leaving ice sport lovers out in the cold.
It doesn't have to be that way.
Just imagine what it would be like if we could give ice time to everyone who wants it. Think about what that would do for us all. Improve our health. Build strong communities. Create vibrant businesses. And grow the game, for good.
By capturing valuable data about who is using ice and when they are using it the potential is endless.
Open Ice creates benefits for everyone.
Ensure that everyone who wants to
play gets the opportunity to access
ice locallyGrow participation in hockey and recreational programming.
Make better use of ice time.
How Open Ice works.
Collect data
We gather information about how ice is being used in rinks across communities.
Find gaps
Using the data, we identify when and where ice time is underutilized or inaccessible.
Create solutions
We work with rink managers, communities, governments, and sport organizations to build fair, transparent systems that make ice time available to everyone.
Empower communities
Provide rink managers and municipalities with insights to plan better and have tools to create meaningful change.
