Saskatchewan Ice Rink Upgrades Cohort
In 2025, 15 small and rural communities from across Saskatchewan participated in the CRIS Ice Rink Cohort, a hands‑on program designed to improve their ice rink upgrade projects, lower costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Each community got free one-on-one support from a CRIS expert in their area. They also joined group webinars where they learned from Roster Experts and each other. These sessions focused on choosing practical upgrades, moving projects forward, and getting ready to apply for funding.
Many communities started with similar problems, like old arenas, high operating costs, and poor heating, cooling, insulation, and energy use.
Through the cohort, participants gained clarity on project scope and early design considerations, strengthened their understanding of funding pathways, and left with clear roadmaps to move their rink or arena upgrades forward.
Offered in partnership with Saskatchewan Urban Municipal Association (SUMA) and Eco West Canada.
Do you need support for your Ice Rink Upgrade or Retrofit Project?
We're launching a second Ice Rink Cohort for Saskatchewan communities on April 29th, 2026 in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Learn more and sign up below.
Cohort At a Glance
"The entire process including the Webinars was very engaging. Having the Expert site visit and report is helpful to have a guide forward to energy savings and set the stage for equipment replacement. The process was delivered very well."
"The CRIS has allowed our firm to connect with smaller, remote townships and help provide the same level of analysis we typically provide to larger organizations/cities. We believe the program helps connect the bridge between professional firms and smaller towns that would otherwise not have the chance to work together."
"The webinar series was informative and provided ideas to investigate for our project."
"As in all small communities, the RecPlex is the hub center for the community to gather and connect. Sports bring many different people together to create memories and we are committed to continue offering that to our community. Our Community Development Department crew are dedicated to learning and continuing to increase our level of service for our community through improving inefficiencies."
"The Saskatchewan Ice-Rink Cohort was a fantastic project, and working with the Town of Watson allowed us to support a small municipality in exploring the path forward in their Arena to reduce emissions, energy, and utility costs, all while improving building functionality. This project explored an ice plant replacement, building controls, building envelope, lighting, and unique energy conservation measures custom to the facility. We hope this can be a building block for the Town to continue to maintain and upgrade their arena!"
Learn More about Cohorts
Interested in getting involved in a CRIS Cohort in your province or territory? Learn about our other ongoing cohort opportunities offered with trusted national partners.
