What a beautiful square. I have been here every year for the New Year's Even festival (but it gets very, very crowded so if you don't like people, you may want to avoid this). The New Years Eve festival is always filled with a lot of entertainment and fun and free.
It's quite nice when it isn't New Years Eve and you go there for the skating. The rink is quite big and crowded, but it is well maintained. It isn't like ODR quality - it's much better. The ice is quite smooth and has few bumps - they zamboni it every few hours. They have a skate rental place as well as food everywhere around - whether it's the fancy restaurants by the Bay, the Tim's across the street or the street food surrounding the place it is beautiful.
There are always things happening at Nathan Phillips - protests, festivals or celebrations and it always worth it to go and look.