WINNIPEG -- There is some good news for Winnipeggers who are looking for some outdoor activities.
As part of the new health orders announced by the province that are set to take effect on Saturday, the City of Winnipeg will be able to open outdoor community rinks and tobogganing hills.
"So the good news going into the weekend is get your skates out, get them ready. Something to look forward to," said Mayor Brian Bowman.
However, despite the good news, Winnipeg will need some help from Mother Nature before these activities can fully commence.
"We need more snow and colder temperatures in order to construct the rinks and toboggan slides," said Jay Shaw, assistant chief of Emergency Management.
Shaw said they are asking for patience, as it will still be a few weeks before everything will be up and running.
"We're starting to see some temperatures start to drop, so that's good, back into seasonal temperatures. It's anticipated that our rinks, once we get a little bit of snow, we will get everything formed up," said Shaw.
He noted the city has everything in place and once the weather starts to change more, crews will be ready to go.
"If the temperatures are above zero, you are going to have a problem. We have been hovering in and around that area, but we are going into seasonal temperatures now," he said. "Give us a week, temperatures are just going to start dropping this weekend and we're going to do our absolute best to get those rinks open as fast as possible."
When everything does open, people will still need to follow the health orders, as there can't be groups larger than five from different households and people must practice physical distancing.
Other facilities connected to rinks will not be allowed to be open, such as warming huts.
"Everything we are doing is accordance with provincial public health orders," said Bowman.
Bowman said the city is still looking for some clarity regarding gathering limits.
The city operates 43 community rinks and six tobogganing slides.
