Rink change area: Small and windowless. Sex-segregated. (Really just larger versions of washrooms). Staff room is in a different building, used by the lacrosse club the rest of the year. Lockers available. Patchy rubber mats connect the changeroom to the rink. A campfire cage was added a few years ago -- often has a fire in the evenings.

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Comments about this rink: e-mail us at [email protected].

2022 - 2023

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Rink diaries from earlier years:

2021- 2022

Nov.27, 2021

Rink opened for the season

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2020 - 2021

COVID-RELATED RESTRICTIONS: To find out how to book a skating time, go to the city's outdoor rinks web page.
All shinny hockey has been removed except for Greenwood (and only children and youth are allowed there). The city's opening rules are described here and our rinks blog is here.

2019 - 2020

Wednesday Dec.4, 2019

No skaters, at about 1 pm. Everything about this rink is spread out far. The changeroom is a windowless building southeast of the rink that feels unsafe. There are rubber mats nicely laid out the longish distance between the changeroom and the rink. Beside the far (west) end of the rink is an office where the rink guard sits. At least he has a window!

Some years ago, a community group raised funds to instal a fire cage (instead of the more common open fire circle) to the south of the rink. Now there is a handsome metal shed for wood. There are stones to sit on. The friendly rink attendant says he doesn't know when the campfire is lit, that it has nothing to do with the staff -- its a community group that runs it.

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2018 - 2019

Opened: Nov.24, 2018

Jan.29, 2019

The rink has been marked as open until yesterday and then it was listed as "snow removal in progress" (with over 25 cm of snow). At 4 p.m. it was again listed as open.

Jan.26:

the Jan.24 message was finally removed.

Jan.24, 2019

Rink marked as closed for maintenance between 6.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. The same message was still on by 9 pm on the city's outdoor rink information website.

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2017 - 2018

Feb.12, 2018, 1.45 pm, from Geri Dempsey

Gorgeous sunny (cold) day by the beach. There were 4 skaters when I arrived, two playing shinny, the others just enjoying the nice conditions. The fire pit is in a perfect spot with rocks to sit in around it. A closet with some scraps of firewood was padlocked close by.

The change rooms were in stark contrast to the bright day outside. Maybe it was the glare of the sun but I couldn’t see a thing inside. No windows, an empty cold room with a locker in the corner and benches along the wall.

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September 11, 2017

September 11, 2017

A letter was sent to the city councillor, offering a donation of a complete skate loan collection for this rink.

Our reasons:
* people love to borrow skates: newcomers, school classes, kids and youth who grew out of their skates
* we have 110 skates, 20 hockey sticks, 20 helmets to donate
* this kind of program has been done by city staff for 12 years at Dufferin Rink, 9 years at Wallace and Campbell -- lots of experienced staff, each one teach one
* staff often have time on their hands to lend skates and also to maintain skates
* the city has insurance that can cover this (the city is self-insured under $5 million anyway), but skate lending programs are rarely threatened with a claim if they do responsible skate maintenance.

Offer declined.

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2016 - 2017

no entries and no letters

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2015 - 2016

March 11, 2016

This rink was scheduled to stay open until March 20, but it closed for the season this afternoon.

Jan.1 2016, e-mail from a skater:

"Kew open with a flood this morning. 9:00 am. Shinny played at 9 :00 am with about 16 skaters all with helmets."

1 p.m., visit by cityrinks:

There was no supervision, but everything was open, including the change room/washrooms. About a dozen people were on the rink, some pleasure-skating, some playing hockey. Much like the rinks in the est end -- friendly and accommodating. The bulletin board sign (and the city's website) said the rink was also closed on Boxing Day but hopefully it wasn't closed then either. Why close the rinks on the main holidays of the year?

Dec.12 2015

This rink has been closed due to weather quite often, or at least marked as closed on the city's rather unreliable website. On Friday, with 15 degrees and bright sunshine, the ice was covered by a thin layer of water at 12 noon, but that was not different than some other nearby rinks that were open. Yet Kew Rink was locked, with a sign on the gate saying the reason for closing was "soft ice conditions." Most likely the closure is related to the beliefs of the local rink supervisor, not the ice quality.

The photo below shows a smiling skater named Ivy, who said that as of Dec.9, she had been skating 101 times this season already, although mostly on indoor rinks. Even though she was smiling, she was clearly disappointed to see that the rink was locked. She got me to take a picture on her camera, to post on her Facebook page.

Dec.1 2015

The rink was scheduled to open on Nov.28, but it couldn't because of construction delays. From a neighbourhood skater: "There is a sign up no girls' hockey. What they may mean is women's shinny cancelled."

See Diaries tab

Views of the rink

Kew Gardens Rink Right beside Lake Ontario and the boardwalk; lovely

new rink office window put in last year

From The City of Toronto Website 2014-15

For the skating schedule, go to Kew Gardens Rink page on the City website, then click on Skating.

shinny hockey only

leisure skate only

Rink Diary

2022 - 2023

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Rink diaries from earlier years:

2021- 2022

Nov.27, 2021

Rink opened for the season

---

2020 - 2021

COVID-RELATED RESTRICTIONS: To find out how to book a skating time, go to the city's outdoor rinks web page.
All shinny hockey has been removed except for Greenwood (and only children and youth are allowed there). The city's opening rules are described here and our rinks blog is here.

2019 - 2020

Wednesday Dec.4, 2019

No skaters, at about 1 pm. Everything about this rink is spread out far. The changeroom is a windowless building southeast of the rink that feels unsafe. There are rubber mats nicely laid out the longish distance between the changeroom and the rink. Beside the far (west) end of the rink is an office where the rink guard sits. At least he has a window!

Some years ago, a community group raised funds to instal a fire cage (instead of the more common open fire circle) to the south of the rink. Now there is a handsome metal shed for wood. There are stones to sit on. The friendly rink attendant says he doesn't know when the campfire is lit, that it has nothing to do with the staff -- its a community group that runs it.

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2018 - 2019

Opened: Nov.24, 2018

Jan.29, 2019

The rink has been marked as open until yesterday and then it was listed as "snow removal in progress" (with over 25 cm of snow). At 4 p.m. it was again listed as open.

Jan.26:

the Jan.24 message was finally removed.

Jan.24, 2019

Rink marked as closed for maintenance between 6.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. The same message was still on by 9 pm on the city's outdoor rink information website.

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2017 - 2018

Feb.12, 2018, 1.45 pm, from Geri Dempsey

Gorgeous sunny (cold) day by the beach. There were 4 skaters when I arrived, two playing shinny, the others just enjoying the nice conditions. The fire pit is in a perfect spot with rocks to sit in around it. A closet with some scraps of firewood was padlocked close by.

The change rooms were in stark contrast to the bright day outside. Maybe it was the glare of the sun but I couldn’t see a thing inside. No windows, an empty cold room with a locker in the corner and benches along the wall.

---

September 11, 2017

September 11, 2017

A letter was sent to the city councillor, offering a donation of a complete skate loan collection for this rink.

Our reasons:
* people love to borrow skates: newcomers, school classes, kids and youth who grew out of their skates
* we have 110 skates, 20 hockey sticks, 20 helmets to donate
* this kind of program has been done by city staff for 12 years at Dufferin Rink, 9 years at Wallace and Campbell -- lots of experienced staff, each one teach one
* staff often have time on their hands to lend skates and also to maintain skates
* the city has insurance that can cover this (the city is self-insured under $5 million anyway), but skate lending programs are rarely threatened with a claim if they do responsible skate maintenance.

Offer declined.

---

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2016 - 2017

no entries and no letters

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2015 - 2016

March 11, 2016

This rink was scheduled to stay open until March 20, but it closed for the season this afternoon.

Jan.1 2016, e-mail from a skater:

"Kew open with a flood this morning. 9:00 am. Shinny played at 9 :00 am with about 16 skaters all with helmets."

1 p.m., visit by cityrinks:

There was no supervision, but everything was open, including the change room/washrooms. About a dozen people were on the rink, some pleasure-skating, some playing hockey. Much like the rinks in the est end -- friendly and accommodating. The bulletin board sign (and the city's website) said the rink was also closed on Boxing Day but hopefully it wasn't closed then either. Why close the rinks on the main holidays of the year?

Dec.12 2015

This rink has been closed due to weather quite often, or at least marked as closed on the city's rather unreliable website. On Friday, with 15 degrees and bright sunshine, the ice was covered by a thin layer of water at 12 noon, but that was not different than some other nearby rinks that were open. Yet Kew Rink was locked, with a sign on the gate saying the reason for closing was "soft ice conditions." Most likely the closure is related to the beliefs of the local rink supervisor, not the ice quality.

The photo below shows a smiling skater named Ivy, who said that as of Dec.9, she had been skating 101 times this season already, although mostly on indoor rinks. Even though she was smiling, she was clearly disappointed to see that the rink was locked. She got me to take a picture on her camera, to post on her Facebook page.

Dec.1 2015

The rink was scheduled to open on Nov.28, but it couldn't because of construction delays. From a neighbourhood skater: "There is a sign up no girls' hockey. What they may mean is women's shinny cancelled."

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Diary 2011 - 2012 Diary 2010 - 2011, Rink Diary 2009 - 2010, Diary 2008-2009, Diary 2007 -2008, RinkDiary2006-2007, Rink Diary 2004 - 2005