Mississauga's newest waterfront natural area is not open to the public yet, but it already has visitors, and conservation staff want to know who they are.

Credit Valley Conservation said on Wednesday, Jan. 21, that it has installed a trail camera along one of the paths at the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area. The camera will record the animals that pass through the site over the next several months, during the coldest stretch of the year.

The conservation authority said cameras in earlier, warmer seasons had already caught white-tailed deer, kingfishers, trumpeter swans and snapping turtles settling into the restored shoreline.

Now that the trail cam is set for winter, we can’t wait to see which species are exploring the landscape

— Credit Valley Conservation, in a post on X

The conservation authority joked in its post that not even a polar vortex could keep its team away from the site.

From power plant to wetland

The 26-hectare, or 64-acre, conservation area sits on the Lake Ontario shoreline in south Mississauga, next to the Lakeview Village community. Both are being built on land once occupied by the Lakeview Generating Station, a power plant that shut down in 2005 and whose four smokestacks were known locally as the Four Sisters.

The $59-million project is led by Credit Valley Conservation, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and the Region of Peel, with contributions from the cities of Mississauga and Toronto. It is named for Jim Tovey, the late Mississauga city councillor who pushed for the shoreline to be restored.

Builders reused construction rubble and fill to shape new land along the lake, turning a degraded stretch of shoreline into new greenspace and wetland habitat.

Opening this spring

The site is on track to open to the public in May 2026. It was first expected to open in July 2025 before running into a delay of nearly a year.

Two pedestrian bridges were put in place last September to link trails, boardwalks and lookouts across the site. Project leaders have also highlighted a raised boardwalk trail next to Serson Wetland East, which is expected to give birdwatchers a close view into the wetland.

Until then, the trail camera offers the first look at how the new habitat is being used by wildlife in winter. The conservation authority told followers to stay tuned for the results.