Otter Creek Centre, at 140 Cheritan Avenue near Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue West, has two ice pads. On its first posted weekend, leisure skating is listed from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. both days. Over those same hours, the schedule also has shinny for kids, teens and adults. On Wednesday evenings, the ice also holds a volunteer house league for four- and five-year-olds. December in this part of Bedford Park is planned around that second pad.
A first weekend penciled in for November 28
The City of Toronto's Otter Creek Centre page shows the first drop-in sessions on Saturday, November 28, and Sunday, November 29. Treat those dates as a target. The City says outdoor artificial rinks "typically open in late November and close for the season in March." Artificial ice still needs a run of cold days to set, and rinks close after heavy snow and on some days above 0°C.
The North York Guide's 2026–27 rink roundup found the same November 28 start at eight of the nine City-run sites it covers. On November 1, every North York rink in the City's live status feed still read "Closed for the Season."
The City's facility description lists two outdoor artificial ice rinks, a change-room building and parking on a 3,006-square-metre site. The building has a leisure skate change room, men's and women's change rooms and washrooms. The North York Guide lists the main boarded pad at 180 by 120 feet, plus a second pad.
How the two pads split a Saturday
Here is the posted schedule for Saturday, November 28. Leisure skating is open all day while the shinny sessions run alongside it.
| Program on Saturday, Nov. 28 | Posted times |
|---|---|
| Leisure skate, all ages | 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Shinny, child, ages 6 to 12 | 9 to 10 a.m.; 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.; 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. |
| Shinny, adult, 19 and over | 10:15 to 11:30 a.m.; 2 to 3:30 p.m.; 8:30 to 10 p.m. |
| Shinny, youth, ages 13 to 17 | 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. |
The shinny blocks are back to back almost all day. If a pickup game ran on the only sheet of ice, leisure skaters would have to leave. At Otter Creek, the schedule keeps leisure skating listed across every one of those hours. Sunday follows the same pattern. Leisure skating again runs 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., with child shinny through the morning and early afternoon, youth shinny from 2 to 4 p.m., and adult shinny from 4 to 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 to 10 p.m.
The North York Guide's roundup says Otter Creek posts "the most shinny of any North York rink," with adult, child, youth, women's and girls' sessions. Ledbury Park, at 160 Ledbury Street near Bathurst and Lawrence, is the closest comparison. It has one boarded pad, which the guide lists at 289 by 49 feet. Its posted hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, with weekends split into morning, afternoon and evening blocks.
The weekday schedule, built around school hours
The posted schedule for the week of November 30 to December 6 shows who each block is for.
- Daytime, Monday to Friday: adult shinny from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., beside all-day leisure skating.
- After school, Monday, Wednesday and Friday: child shinny from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, December 1: girls' shinny for ages 6 to 12 from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., followed by women's shinny from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
- Thursday and Friday: youth shinny from 3:30 to 6 p.m. on Thursday and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
- Friday night: a second adult block from 8:30 to 10 p.m.
Leisure skating stays on the board from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day that week. Drop-in sessions at City outdoor rinks are free. Everyone on the ice needs skates, and most programs, shinny in particular, require a helmet.
Wednesday nights belong to LPAA's youngest players
The Lawrence Park Athletic Association is a volunteer, non-profit community league. It runs non-contact, co-ed house league hockey for kids aged 4 to 15 at three City rinks. Its Skills division, for ages four and five, is expected to play all its games at Otter Creek on Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m. The league notes that parking is available at Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and in the small lots on either side of the rink.
LPAA's hockey page lists the expected 2026–27 season as December 1, 2026, to February 23, 2027. It also explains that the league starts "when the city opens the outdoor rinks." Games lost to weather or rink closures may be made up on nights with extra ice booked or after Family Day weekend. The registration fee is $225, which covers ice time, a team jersey and hockey socks. The registration deadline is November 16, 2026. Registrations received after that date are subject to available spots, and fees are not prorated for anyone joining after the season starts.
Skills games start with 20 to 30 minutes of practice before the game itself. Players take turns in net, wearing their regular equipment. The league plays in conditions you might not expect. Its page says, "In most cases, you would be surprised at what we can play in - light rain, freezing cold, and snow!" Parents are told to assume a game is on unless they hear otherwise.
Otter Creek has hosted this kind of winter for a long time. The unofficial City Rinks archive, which stopped updating after 2023, records the rink as built in 1976, with its refrigeration system and boards installed in 2001.
Saturdays on Yonge fit around the ice
Bedford Park's other December fixture sits on Yonge Street. The Yonge Lawrence Village BIA holds its holiday programming on three consecutive Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each time. Those hours fall inside Otter Creek's posted Saturday leisure skate. The first one, December 5, lands in the rink's second week of posted sessions.
| Saturday | On Yonge, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Where |
|---|---|---|
| December 5 | The BIA's resident elf gives out free reusable shopping bags | East and west sidewalks of Yonge, Lawrence Avenue to Yonge Boulevard |
| December 12 | Second annual "Paws & Claus" free selfies with Santa | Yonge Boulevard Parkette, 3446 Yonge Street |
| December 19 | The elf returns with more reusable bags | East and west sidewalks of Yonge, Lawrence Avenue to Yonge Boulevard |
Paws & Claus welcomes families, friends and pets, and the BIA asks people to bring them "for some serious (or goofy) Christmas selfies." The parkette will have an on-site DJ playing seasonal music, free reusable bags and self-serve hot chocolate courtesy of SV Orthodontics. All activity is weather permitting, the same condition that applies on the ice. On December 5, the posted Otter Creek schedule has a child shinny block from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. That overlaps the elf's hours on Yonge, so a family can split up for the afternoon.
The BIA also encourages shopping locally for the holidays across the strip's gift stores and food spots. One newer name in its directory is Bello Italian Sandwiches at 3305 Yonge Street, listed with hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. blogTO reported in August that Bello comes from the team behind Vero Sandwich Co. and serves Italian cold cuts on focaccia. It also has locations at The Well and at the Big Apple in Colborne.
Before the first skate
- Check the rink's status the morning you go. The City's outdoor rink closures page lists rinks shut for snow, mild weather or maintenance. You can also call 311.
- Use the drop-in tab for current hours. The Otter Creek page tells visitors to check its Drop-in Programs tab for outdoor rink hours. The sessions above cover only the first posted weeks and will change through the season.
- Bring sticks only for shinny. The North York Guide notes that hockey sticks and pucks are for shinny sessions only.
- Line up loaner skates early if you need them. The City's Skate Lending Library starts visiting rink locations on November 20, 2026. Check that page for its 2026–27 visit schedule before counting on a pair at Otter Creek.
If you live near Cheritan Avenue or Yonge Boulevard and want to know how this block's winter routine figures into what your home is worth, the Jamie Dempster Team knows these streets rink by rink. Request a Free Home Evaluation and we'll walk you through it before the ice goes in.
