Saturday, December 5 has no free public skate in Clarence-Rockland. There's nothing scheduled at the Desjardins Centre in Rockland and nothing at Clarence-Creek Arena either.
The City's free public ice this winter comes as a list of dates, and the list skips weeks. The two arenas run different times, they skip different Saturdays, and they don't restart in January on the same weekend. Once you can see the whole calendar, the season is easy to plan.
Two arenas, two time slots, one sponsor
Both free Saturday skates are presented by EQ Homes, and they start a little over four hours apart.
At the Desjardins Centre, 60 Canadian Lane in Rockland, public skating runs from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. on Pad 2. At Clarence-Creek Arena, 418 Lemay Street, it runs from 6 to 7 p.m. On the Saturdays when both run, a family could skate after lunch in Rockland and again after supper in Clarence Creek without paying for either.
A weekday option rounds it out. Family skating at the Desjardins Centre runs every second Wednesday from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m., also free.
Each session is shorter than the posted hour. The City reserves the last ten minutes of every ice session for resurfacing, so the 1:45 skate in Rockland really ends about 2:35, and the Clarence Creek skate about 6:50. If you get there at 2:15, you'll have only about twenty minutes on the ice.
The Saturday calendar from now to mid-January
Here are the published dates from this Saturday through the restart in January, side by side. The Rockland schedule and the Clarence-Creek schedule are on the City's website.
| Saturday | Desjardins Centre, 1:45 p.m. | Clarence-Creek Arena, 6 p.m. |
|---|---|---|
| November 14 | Yes | Yes |
| November 21 | Yes | Yes |
| November 28 | Yes | Yes |
| December 5 | No | No |
| December 12 | Yes | Yes |
| December 19 | Yes | No |
| December 26 | No | No |
| January 2 | No | No |
| January 9 | Yes | No |
| January 16 | Yes | Yes |
The rest of November is the easiest part of the season. All three Saturdays have ice at both arenas. December is where it gets uneven: a Saturday with nothing, a Saturday with both, then a Saturday when only Rockland runs. After two empty holiday Saturdays, Rockland comes back on January 9 and Clarence Creek a week later on January 16.
Families in Bourget, Hammond or Clarence Creek who usually use the 6 p.m. slot will find their arena closed on December 19 and January 9. On both of those dates the free option is the afternoon skate in Rockland.
The Wednesday skate fills a different gap
The family skate runs on its own two-week cycle, unrelated to the Saturday list. From today, the remaining dates through January are:
- Wednesday, November 25
- Wednesday, December 9
- Wednesday, December 23
- Wednesday, January 6
- Wednesday, January 20
The early-afternoon weekday slot works for parents home with preschoolers, shift workers and anyone off during school break. December 23 falls during the holidays, and it's the same day as the last holiday skate in Clarence Creek, covered below.
The holiday week is when the ice opens up
The City fills the late-December gap with free holiday sessions that run several hours a day, much longer than the regular one-hour skates.
Clarence-Creek Arena, December 21 to 23. Free holiday skating and shinny run from 1 to 4 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Desjardins Centre, December 28 to 30. These three days are presented by Desjardins. Public skating runs from 1 to 2 p.m., followed by shinny split by age group from 2 to 4 p.m. On December 28 the shinny block is ringette. The full details are on the City's Rockland holiday skate page.
So the Saturday skates stop on December 26 and January 2, while the weekdays from December 21 to 30 carry six days of free ice across the two arenas. For those two weeks, the season moves from Saturdays to weekdays.
Why the Rockland arena has a new name
If the Desjardins Centre name still sounds unfamiliar, that's because it's new this season. On September 8, 2026, the City announced a five-year naming-rights agreement turning the Clarence-Rockland Arena into the Desjardins Centre. Desjardins Ontario Credit Union was the only organization to respond to the City's call for expressions of interest. The City's announcement says the agreement includes free public skating sessions presented by Desjardins and financial literacy workshops for residents. The December 28 to 30 holiday sessions are the Desjardins-presented skates now on the calendar.
The arena was officially inaugurated on September 20 at a Rockland Nationals game against the Smiths Falls Bears.
The indoor walking track around the ice is open Monday through Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., except during special events. It gives you somewhere to walk on the many winter weekdays when no public skate is scheduled.
Friday nights at the same rink
On two Fridays before the end of the month, the Rockland ice hosts junior A hockey. In the CCHL 2026–27 schedule, the Rockland Nationals play at home at the Desjardins Centre on:
- Friday, November 20, 7:30 p.m., against the Renfrew Wolves
- Friday, November 27, 7:30 p.m., against the Pembroke Royals
The team's last home game, against Hawkesbury on November 7, drew 885 people and ended in a 7–6 overtime loss. Single-game tickets for the regular season are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors 65 and over, $10 for students aged 14 to 18 and $7 for children aged 6 to 13. Children five and under get in free, and HST is included. Vision reported that the league's winter break runs from December 22, 2026 to January 1, 2027, the same stretch the holiday skates take over.
Put the two together and a weekend can have a Friday night game followed by a free Saturday afternoon skate at the same arena. That happens on November 20 and 21, and again on November 27 and 28.
Outdoor rinks open later, and they need people
The City's skating page lists eight outdoor rinks and a scenic ice trail at Alain-Potvin Park. They don't open on a fixed date the way the arena sessions do. They open once cold weather and somebody with a hose make the ice.
On October 21, the City's Operations Services Department asked for individuals or community groups to maintain the outdoor rinks at three parks this season:
- Bourget Park, 2233 Dollard Street
- Dalrymple Park, 1060 Des Pins Avenue
- Cathy Cain Park, 374 McDermitt Drive
The job covers building and maintaining the ice, clearing snow, flooding the surface as needed, and cleaning and maintaining the rink shelter. It pays $265 a week, up to $2,650 for the season, and the City supplies the equipment. That cap works out to ten weeks of paid upkeep, which gives a rough idea of the outdoor season the City is budgeting for at these three parks. The City's notice lists the contact for anyone interested.
City park pages also list outdoor skating at Cheney Park on Grand Tronc Road, Laviolette Park on Laviolette Street, St-Pascal Park on du Lac Road, Richelieu Grande-Rivière Park on Laporte Street and Simon Park on du Parc Avenue.
Alain-Potvin Park, at 1245 Docteur Corbeil Boulevard, has both a skating path and a sledding hill. The City sends visitors to the Parc Alain-Potvin Park Facebook page for conditions on both. Check that page before you load the sleds in the car.
Helmets and ages, indoors and out
The helmet rule covers every City rink, indoor or outdoor. Children 10 and under must wear a CSA-approved hockey helmet on all City of Clarence-Rockland rinks. During skating sessions, children 7 and under must be accompanied by a responsible person at least 16 years old. Indoors, hockey sticks and pucks aren't allowed during public skates, and you can't skate holding a child in your arms or in a carrier. If you want a stick and a puck, go on the shinny days during the holiday week.
Living between Rockland and the villages means you get to know which arena is closer, which slot suits your family's Saturday and which park rink is nearest when the cold arrives. I'm Steve Brunet, and I spend my weeks across Clarence-Rockland's communities, from Canadian Lane to Lemay Street and out to Bourget. If you're weighing how a home's location fits the way your family uses the town in winter, Steve Brunet is happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.
