Trail access at new conservation area in Mississauga temporarily limited: CVC

People wanting to walk and cycle on the trails at the new Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area in Mississauga’s south end can do so only on weekends and with limited access on weekdays while finishing touches are put on the $59-million natural space.

Credit Valley Conservation, one of the partners involved in the major restoration project that culminated in last weekend’s opening of the 64-acre natural area, said final-stage work on the trails begins Monday and is expected to last several weeks.

Starting June 8, “we will be completing line painting on the trails,” the conservation authority said, noting work will take place each weekday from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. when “visitors can expect rolling trail closures.”

The work will take place in three phases and take three weeks to complete, CVC added.

At the end of each week, the trails will reopen to the public at 5 p.m. on Fridays and remain open throughout the weekend, officials said.

Beginning the week of June 8, we will be completing line painting on the trails at Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area. The work will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and visitors can expect rolling trail closures. All affected areas will be fully closed to the public… pic.twitter.com/84nQhD7q6M

— Credit Valley Conservation (@CVC_CA) June 5, 2026

After a nearly year-long delay, the huge new conservation area described as “a landmark project that’s been more than a decade in the making” opened to the public last Saturday morning in the southeast corner of Mississauga.

Named for the late Mississauga city councillor who worked to bring the project to fruition, the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area promises to “transform a once-industrial shoreline into a vibrant natural space along Lake Ontario,” its creators say.

The large, reimagined natural space is a joint restoration project led by Credit Valley Conservation, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and Region of Peel. The cities of Mississauga and Toronto also contributed to the substantial project.

Those behind the project noted the conservation area presents itself as “a place for exploration, reflection and connection with nature, and it offers expansive landscapes and stunning views of the lake.”

Visitors can explore scenic trails, boardwalks and lookout points, discover newly created habitats and experience “a place designed to reconnect people and wildlife with the waterfront.”

The new conservation area also features “restored wetlands, meadows and shoreline habitat already supporting fish, birds, turtles and other wildlife along Lake Ontario,” CVC said. 

More than a decade in the making, the new 26-hectare Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area has transformed the Mississauga shoreline. This includes bringing a section of Serson Creek back to life. Buried and piped underground in the 1960s, we reconnected the creek back to Lake… pic.twitter.com/Cn8FrRY5bu

— Credit Valley Conservation (@CVC_CA) June 4, 2026

Expected to be an environmental “gem” in the southeast corner of Canada’s seventh-largest city, the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area was initially expected to open last July before it encountered a nearly year-long delay.

Built on a previously degraded section of shoreline, the conservation area reuses construction rubble and fill as a sustainable resource to create a greenspace that will connect the community back to Lake Ontario, project leaders said earlier.

Lakeview Village, a large new mixed-use community, and the new conservation area are being developed on the site that was once home to Lakeview Generating Station. It was shut down in 2005, complete with the controlled demolition of the iconic smokestacks known for decades as “The Four Sisters.”

One of the pedestrian bridges at the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area. (Photo: Credit Valley Conservation)

(Cover photo: From Credit Valley Conservation video)