On a Saturday in Innisfil this fall there are two public skates. The first starts at 12:30 p.m. at the Innisfil Recreational Complex on Yonge Street. The second starts at 4:00 p.m. at Morgan Russell Memorial Arena in Lefroy, at the other end of town. Stroud Arena sits between them at 7883 Yonge St., and it is still closed.
With one of the town's three indoor rinks out of service, the drop-in schedule has settled into a clear split. Weekday daytime hours at the IRC lean heavily toward adults and seniors. Weekday afternoons for kids and teens mostly happen at Morgan Russell. Who is skating now decides which rink you drive to more than distance does.
Why the choice is down to two rinks
The Town of Innisfil's public skating page still lists the Stroud Arena ice and banquet hall as "temporarily closed while building assessment and repair are underway." November was the original reopening target. That changed in August, when the Town's August 20 update said HVAC work, mould remediation and an engineering assessment of pitting on structural beams would keep the ice closed past November. InnisfilToday covered it the next day as "'Unexpected' issues ice November reopening plans for Stroud arena."
The cost rose with the timeline. InnisfilToday reported that at its September 23 meeting, council approved another $771,400 from the town's capital reserve. That brought the repair budget to about $2.071 million, up from the $1.08 million approved in February. According to the same report, most of the earlier budget went to the HVAC upgrade, and reopening is now set for January 2027. Stroud's own councillor, Kevin Eisses, voiced his hesitation in that same InnisfilToday report: "I'm not sure that I've had this experience at the council table where we've been asked to spend close to $1 million on an emergency repair without knowing that it's going to fully do the job." InnisfilToday also reported that Mayor Lynn Dollin and Coun. Alex Waters remembered a public meeting nearly a decade ago, when Stroud residents turned out in large numbers to keep the arena they had rather than build a new one.
In the meantime, the Town says displaced ice users are being accommodated at its other two arenas: the IRC at 7315 Yonge St. and Morgan Russell Memorial Arena & Community Centre at 1354 Killarney Beach Rd. Drop-in skaters share those two buildings with every group Stroud used to host, and the fall timetable shows how the hours were divided.
The weekday grid, rink by rink
Here is every drop-in session listed on Active Innisfil for fall 2026, by day and by building.
| Day | Innisfil Recreational Complex | Morgan Russell Memorial Arena, Lefroy |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 65+ shinny 10:30–11:50 a.m.; women's shinny noon–1:20 p.m.; adult public skate 12:15–1:35 p.m.; senior skate 1:30–2:50 p.m. | Teen 14–17 stick and puck 3:30–4:50 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 55+ shinny 10:30–11:50 a.m.; 75+ shinny 11:15 a.m.–12:35 p.m. | Parent and tot 9:30–10:50 a.m.; senior skate 11:00 a.m.–12:20 p.m.; youth 12–14 stick and puck 3:30–4:50 p.m. |
| Wednesday | Homeschool skate 9:45–11:05 a.m.; 65+ shinny 10:30–11:50 a.m.; adult public skate 12:15–1:35 p.m.; 18+ shinny 4:00–5:20 p.m. | Family stick and puck 3:30–4:50 p.m. |
| Thursday | Parent and tot 9:45–11:05 a.m.; 55+ shinny 10:30–11:50 a.m.; 75+ shinny 11:15 a.m.–12:35 p.m.; 35+ shinny noon–1:20 p.m.; senior skate 1:30–2:50 p.m. | 18+ stick and puck 10:30–11:50 a.m.; ticket ice for figure skating 3:30–4:50 p.m. |
| Friday | 18+ shinny 4:00–5:20 p.m. | None listed |
| Saturday | Public skate 12:30–1:50 p.m. | Public skate 4:00–5:20 p.m. |
The IRC holds the adult and senior ladder
The IRC's fall schedule runs a shinny ladder by age: 18+, women, 35+, 55+, 65+ and 75+, nearly all in the late morning or around midday. Adult public skates run Monday and Wednesday at lunch, and the 55+ public skate runs Monday and Thursday afternoons. The IRC's only after-school ice is the 18+ shinny on Wednesday and Friday at 4:00 p.m. A teenager looking for weekday ice after 3:30 p.m. won't find a drop-in slot built for them on Yonge Street.
Lefroy holds the after-school hour
Morgan Russell fills the gap. Its 3:30 p.m. block rotates through the week: teens 14 to 17 on Monday, youth 12 to 14 on Tuesday, family stick and puck on Wednesday and figure skating ticket ice on Thursday. Lefroy also runs its own parent-and-tot skate on Tuesday morning and its own senior skate on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. Because of that, families with toddlers get a free skate both Tuesday in Lefroy and Thursday at the IRC, and seniors have three weekday public-skate windows across the two buildings.
The fall listings also show no shinny at Morgan Russell and no stick and puck at the IRC. If your household plays both, you will likely end up at both rinks.
What a session costs
Drop-in fees are paid at the facility desk on arrival. According to the Town's fee table:
- Public skate: $5 for ages 16 to 54, $3 for ages 15 and under and for 55 and older, $12 for a family of two adults and three children, and free with a YMCA membership
- Shinny, stick and puck, family shinny and family stick and puck: $7 per person, with goalies free for shinny
- Homeschool public skate: $3 per person
- Parent and tot skate, for children 5 and under: free
- Ticket ice for figure skating: $17 per person
The Town notes that fees can change under its Fees and Charges By-law, and that all facilities are closed on holidays.
The schedule turns over before Stroud does
All of the timetable above ends in December. The last Lefroy Saturday public skate is December 19, the IRC's Saturday listing runs to December 26, and the weekday sessions at both rinks end between December 28 and 31. The winter calendar is published before then, and the dates line up like this:
- Wednesday, November 18: winter program details go live on Active Innisfil.
- Wednesday, December 2, 8:30 a.m.: resident registration opens.
- Wednesday, December 9, 8:30 a.m.: non-resident registration opens.
- January 2027: the Stroud Arena reopening target reported after the September 23 council meeting.
- January 18, 2027: the date through which the Town said ice users would be accommodated at the IRC and Morgan Russell.
- February 15, 2027: the target reopening for the Stroud banquet hall.
The winter drop-in calendar comes out roughly two months before Stroud's reopening target. The first winter timetable is therefore built around two rinks, and how the hours change after that depends on when the third rink actually comes back. If you're asking the Town for a particular time slot, the Sports and Recreation team takes program requests at [email protected].
Outdoor ice adds two free options from December
Once the weather cooperates, the two outdoor sites ease the pressure on the indoor schedule, and both are free. The Town's outdoor skating page lists the Cookstown Outdoor Rink at 20 Church St., open daily from dawn to 11 p.m. from December to March, weather permitting. Hockey is allowed there from 9 to 11 p.m. The Town Square Skating Trail at 971 Innisfil Beach Rd. runs from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in winter, weather permitting, and does not allow hockey. Every indoor drop-in session in town ends by 5:20 p.m., so these two sites are the only evening skating, and Cookstown's 9 to 11 p.m. window is the only late-night hockey.
Both Cookstown and Stroud also have holiday nights on the Town calendar. Cookstown Light Up Night and Santa Claus Parade runs Saturday, November 21, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Stroud Christmas Tree Lighting, with visits from Santa, is Saturday, December 5, at 7 p.m. On December 5, Saturday public skating wraps up at 1:50 p.m. at the IRC and 5:20 p.m. in Lefroy, so you can fit in an afternoon skate before the tree lighting.
Knowing how Innisfil's rinks, trails and town calendar fit together is part of how The JRB Group advises families on where daily life happens in each corner of town. If you're weighing which part of Innisfil suits your household's routine, winter included, request a consultation and we'll walk you through it street by street.
