Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area

Connecting People with Nature

We’re creating a new waterfront conservation area that will connect people and wildlife back to nature. The Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area will provide 26 hectares of new greenspace for you to enjoy and provide a home for wildlife and fish.

Credit Valley Conservation, Region of Peel and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) are working together to transform Mississauga’s Lakeview neighbourhood into a hub for passive waterfront recreation, a hotspot for wildlife migration and a green oasis in the heart of the city.

Conservation Area Named in Jim Tovey’s Honour

Credit Valley Conservation’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to recognize the late Jim Tovey’s central role in making this conservation area a reality. The Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area is named in his honour and reflects his strong commitment to environmental conservation, the waterfront and broader Lake Ontario management and the Lakeview community.

The Conservation Area Building Process

The creation of the new Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area is a multi-year process that includes environmental assessment, engineering and design planning, permitting, landform construction, habitat restoration and placemaking. The process includes the following activities:

We conducted an environmental assessment to develop the overall design concept and set objectives. It was approved on May 27, 2015. View The Lakeview Waterfront Connection (LWC) Project Environmental Assessment (EA) now called the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area.

Environmental Assessment Objectives:

Naturalization: Restore diverse terrestrial, aquatic and wetland ecosystem habitats and linkages.
Public access: Provide safe and accessible access to and along the waterfront with recreational, educational and cultural heritage opportunities.
Fiscal viability: Maximize public benefit and value by reusing locally generated fill from existing municipal projects.
Compatibility: Ensure that the conservation area is compatible with existing infrastructure.
Coordination: Coordinate with and inform other local planning and development initiatives.

The new conservation area design is based on objectives and concepts developed through the Environmental Assessment with input from a broad range of interest groups. This includes a southeastern-facing shore line, a naturally flowing landscape with meadow and forest habitats and three coastal wetlands. The design maximizes habitat for wildlife, builds climate change resiliency in addition to offering views, an interesting landscape and trails for visitors to enjoy.
We’re currently in the process of refining the final design of the conservation area to provide a welcoming and engaging visitor experience. We’re assessing connections between the trail network and entrances, as well as the experiences of the new wetlands, barge pier and promontory feature.

We continue to coordinate with our project partners and supporters.

The new public realm designs are expected to be completed and shared later in late 2021/early 2022.

The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation are the treaty holders for the lands and waters where the conservation area is being constructed. It’s located on the boundaries between the Toronto Purchase (1805) and the Head of the Lake Purchase (1818).

CVC is working in close partnership with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation to ensure that the new conservation area reflects Indigenous traditional knowledge in environmental restoration and in the creation of a sense of place.

New Indigenous Placemaking features are being developed by the Brook McIlroy Indigenous Design Studio to help express this intention in the future public realm and visitor experience of the conservation area. These new concept designs will be shared later in 2021.

We’re rehabilitating the eastern Mississauga waterfront by replacing the existing shoreline with a more natural, diverse and ecologically functional shoreline. Construction and habitat restoration activities include:

Building three offshore islands to protect the shoreline from wave action and to create underwater habitat for a variety of aquatic wildlife.
Building three coastal wetlands to provide important fish, wildlife and bird habitat.
Planting trees and shrubs to grow a forest and planting flowers and grasses to grow a meadow
Re-connecting Serson Creek to Lake Ontario and restore the buried creek to allow fish to access the creek from the lake.

See our six year construction update (2016 to 2022) for more information.

We plan on opening the new Jim Tovey Conservation Area to the public in 2025. We can’t wait to welcome you!

Frequently Asked Questions

As of December 2020, we have responsibly reused approximately 1,208,880 cubic metres of clean fill, 69 per cent of which comes from Region of Peel capital works projects. We treat this material as a valued resource to enhance the local environment and improve our waterfront. This saves Region of Peel residents on transportation and tipping fees related to other Regional works projects. It also keeps thousands of trucks from driving long distances to northern municipalities to dispose of the fill material, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We’ve responsibly reused approximately 254,320 cubic metres of clean rubble on the site to date.

We plan on opening the new Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area to the public in 2025.

Input from local residents, the public and private sectors, all levels of government, and Indigenous Communities have been valuable in shaping the project. We continue to seek and welcome your questions and comments. Please fill out our contact form on this page.