MONTREAL – On GivingTuesday, the global day of giving, the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation is proud to announce the selection of the City of Sorel-Tracy as the home of its 16th BLEU BLANC BOUGE community rink. Construction will begin in Simard Park in summer 2025, with the new facility scheduled to open in winter 2026.
This donation from the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation to the City of Sorel-Tracy represents an investment of $2.6 million. The BLEU BLANC BOUGE program consists of building refrigerated, multi-sport outdoor rinks in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods, providing residents with local sports and recreational facilities that are both safe and inclusive. These rinks serve as vibrant community hubs, promoting physical activity and fostering healthy lifestyles.
The Foundation will cover the rink's construction costs, including a CO2-powered high-efficiency refrigeration system, accessible player benches and boards designed for sledge hockey, as well as four basketball hoops on pivoting bases. The donation also includes 100 pairs of skates, 100 helmets and 100 hockey sticks that local youths will be able to borrow for free to fully enjoy the rink.
“This new BLEU BLANC BOUGE rink reflects our commitment to giving back to the community and our ongoing effort to bring high-quality multi-sport infrastructure to disadvantaged and often less underserved areas, helping young people in these communities stay active. It will provide children and families in Sorel-Tracy with additional sports and recreation facilities, allowing them to experience the benefits of incorporating physical activity into their daily lives, regardless of the season,” said Pierre Boivin, chairman of the board of the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation.
The City of Sorel-Tracy will invest an additional $3 million to enhance the project by adding a permanent roof over the rink, complete with integrated lighting and sound system. This structure will extend the ice season and protect the surface from weather conditions year-round. The City will also make improvements to the immediate vicinity of the rink, and the service building will be upgraded to accommodate technical equipment and house public amenities such as the locker room, an equipment rental counter, and washrooms.
“The City of Sorel-Tracy is very grateful for this generous donation from the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation. The community mission of the BLEU BLANC BOUGE rink perfectly aligns with one of the City’s priorities of using sports as a lever for social development. With a proud history of five Stanley Cup champions coming from Sorel-Tracy, including Pierre Mondou, Marc-Andre Fleury and Francois Beauchemin, this rink may inspire a new generation of hockey players to embrace sports! Thank you to the Foundation!” added Patrick Peloquin, mayor of the City of Sorel-Tracy.
To ensure the initiative's success and longevity, the Foundation is collaborating with M361, formerly known as Québec en Forme. This dynamic partnership is based on a shared goal of improving the health of children in disadvantaged areas. M361 supports the Foundation in selecting the communities where these rinks will be established, identifying community partners, developing effective activation and programming, and assessing the program's impact.
The City of Sorel-Tracy stood out for its commitment to strengthening its sports infrastructure by developing modern recreational facilities and equipment accessible to all citizens, which encourage the free practice of physical activity. In addition, the site of the future rink is surrounded by a high concentration of primary and secondary schools, creating a large pool of youths aged 0 to 17 who will be able to take advantage of these new amenities. Sorel-Tracy has also distinguished itself through its history of successful collaborative projects, demonstrating the close cooperation of the region’s multi-sector groups around structuring initiatives aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and addressing the social determinants of youth health. Finally, Sorel-Tracy’s bid to host the Quebec Games in summer 2027 highlighted the exceptional mobilization of stakeholders from the sports, cultural, school, municipal, community and health sectors, who came together behind a unifying project that places sports and youths at the heart of its priorities.
Since the launch of the Foundation’s flagship project in 2009, 14 refrigerated community rinks have been built through the BLEU BLANC BOUGE program across the province. A 15th facility will be inaugurated in January 2025 in La Cite-Limoilou borough of Quebec City. The Sorel-Tracy rink marks the 10th rink outside Montreal and the second in Monteregie, and reaffirms the Foundation’s commitment to providing Quebec youths with more opportunities to stay active throughout the year.
About the BLEU BLANC BOUGE program
The BLEU BLANC BOUGE rinks are built in accordance with NHL standards and dimensions (200 feet by 85 feet) and feature ice quality that meets the highest professional rinks standards, while offering the versatility to enjoy other sports over the course of the year. The skating season takes place from the end of November until mid-March, while various types of ball games like basketball, ball hockey and other sporting activities can be played on the concrete base slab in the spring, summer and fall months. Since 2009, 14 community rinks have been built: six in Montreal, located in the boroughs of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Montreal North, Verdun, Lasalle, Cote-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grace, and Ahuntsic-Cartierville, as well as in Longueuil, Laval, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Joliette, Val-d'Or, Saguenay, and Saint-Jerome.
About the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation
The Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation encourages physical activity and the adoption of a healthy lifestyle among underprivileged youths aged 4 to 17 years old. Since its inception in 2000, the Foundation has invested over $48.8 million in the community with its BLEU BLANC BOUGE program and made donations to over 900 charitable endeavors working for the wellbeing of the most vulnerable children across the province of Quebec. The Foundation fulfills its mandate in two ways: first, through its flagship project, which consists of building and activating refrigerated, multi-sport community rinks; and second, by providing financial support to organizations that help children lead healthier, more active lives. For more information, visit foundation.canadiens.com.
