I live in Toronto, where the heat and the cost of living might conspire to make summers unbearable. But remarkably, the City of Toronto has a plethora of outdoor pools that are open from the end of June until the beginning of September and, incredibly, they’re all 100% FREE for everyone!
My husband Andy and I knew it was going to be a hot first day of summer and we wanted to get some adventuring in and work up a bit of a sweat to make our first public pool dip of the season feel especially deserved.
Fortunately, a brand new conservation area has just opened up, and it’s practically in our backyard!
The Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area is adjacent to the west end of Marie Curtis Park, on the shore of Lake Ontario – essentially at the border of Toronto and Mississauga. It’s been a work in progress for several years and during that time I’ve often wondered what was going on. Finally able to access the fenced off area along the waterfront, we found a conservation area truly in its infancy, with newly planted trees and shrubs, and paved paths for cycling and walking. The main trail is an extension of the Waterfront trail that runs for two kilometres and includes shorter offshoots that take you uphill and to an incredible vantage point for viewing both the Toronto and Mississauga skylines or along a boardwalk through a marsh that is home to delightfully noisy frogs and ducks. I’m sure lots of other animal life can be spotted here – in fact, I know there have been deer sightings! There are so many benches at regular intervals all along the trail making it much more accessible for people requiring more frequent breaks.
We certainly took advantage of one of those benches to enjoy an unobstructed view of Lake Ontario. We spent a couple of hours there and after spending so much time around the water, we couldn’t wait to get wet!
There’s a beach at Marie Curtis Park, but Lake Ontario is still pretty cold this early in the season. We walked back to the parking lot in Marie Curtis Park – about a ten minute walk from the entrance to the conservation area – and grabbed ice cream cones from the truck there before heading to reliably warmer water.
West Mall Pool is about a fifteen minute drive from the park, and it’s a pool we’ve been to many times. In fact, the last time we were there was the closing day of the 2025 season.
It’s a pretty typical neighbourhood pool, with no bells and whistles but excellently maintained essentials. The change rooms were renovated fairly recently and they’re great. In addition to the large common changing area there are several private change rooms with benches, hooks, and an abundance of cubby holes. There are also washrooms and a few showers – which of course you must use before entering the pool.
The pool deck is large, and there’s an outdoor shower for those with accessibility needs. There is also a ramp to get into the pool.
One of the things I love best about West Mall Pool is that it’s never overly crowded. But the people who are there represent the diverse community that surrounds it – people of all different ages and from all different backgrounds are getting exercise, catching up with friends, playing games, or just beating the heat. The water’s warm and refreshing. There’s music playing classic songs from the past several decades and, when we were there, the sun was shining brightly.
It was a great first day of summer!
Naiad Notes 
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