Winnipeg temporarily claimed to have the longest skateway in the world last week, but Ottawa is taking the title back, the National Capital Commission says.

The two-kilometre section of ice on the Rideau Canal between the National Arts Centre and the Pretoria Bridge will open at 6:30 a.m. Friday, the first day of the National Capital Region's annual Winterlude festival, the commission announced in a news release Wednesday.

That will bring the open portion of the skateway to seven kilometres — the same length as Winnipeg's skateway on the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.

Winnipeg claimed to have the world's longest skateway last week, when only two kilometres of the Rideau Canal skateway were solid enough to support skaters, as a result of unseasonably warm weather in December and early January.

The Manitoba city will remain tied with Ottawa from Friday until the remaining 0.8 kilometres of the Rideau Canal skateway between Dows Lake and Hartwell Locks opens.

The 7.8-kilometre Rideau Canal skateway is one of the main attractions of the Winterlude festival, which runs weekends from Feb. 2 to 18 and also features musical performances and snow and ice sculptures.