Tree Bylaws
Cities
Canadian city and municipal tree bylaws
CAUTION: Always check your local tree bylaws for updates. City tree bylaws are often revised.
Metro Vancouver
- Metro Vancouver (There are 17 cities and districts with populations over 5,000)
- 15 of the 17 require permits to remove trees on private residential properties.
- 2 of the 17 (Pitt Meadows and Port Moody) do NOT require permits. Note: the population of these two cities (53,000) is only 2% of Metro Vancouver’s total population.(2021: 2,642,000)
Approximately 98% of Metro Vancouver residents live in communities that have bylaws that restrict the removal of trees on private property.
- Burnaby: 30 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Coquitlam City: 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Delta: 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Langley Township: 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Langley City: 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Maple Ridge: 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- New Westminster: 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- North Vancouver City: 75 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- North Vancouver District: 75 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Port Coquitlam City: You will require a permit if you wish to remove more than two protected trees (20 cm DBH) per 12 month period
- Richmond: 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Surrey: 30 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Vancouver: 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- West Vancouver District: trees of any species 75 cm in diameter or larger. Arbutus, Garry oak, Pacific yew, Pacific dogwood, Yellow cedar, and Shore pine 20 cm in diameter or larger
- White Rock: 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
No bylaws, do NOT require permits to remove trees on private property.
- Pitt Meadows
- Port Moody (Permits required in environmentally sensitive areas)
Links to City Tree Bylaws in British Columbia (pdf) with year of first implementation
- Burnaby 1996
- Chilliwack 2008
- Coquitlam City 2010
- Courtenay 2016
- Delta 2015
- Kamloops 2017
- Kelowna 1997
- Langford 2022
- Langley Township 2019
- Maple Ridge 2015
- Mission 2006
- Nanaimo 2013
- New Westminster 2016
- North Vancouver, City 2022
- North Vancouver District 2012
- Oak Bay 2006
- Port Coquitlam 2005
- Port Moody 1999
- Richmond 2006
- Salmon Arm 2003
- Surrey 2006
- Vancouver 1996
- Vernon 1996
- Victoria 2019
- West Vancouver District 2016
- White Rock 2008
Canadian cities with populations over 100,000
Some large Canadian cities and municipalities, excluding Metro Vancouver, that require permits for removal of tress on private property.
DBH (diameter breast height, 4.5 feet above ground level)
- Brampton, ON. 30 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Burlington, ON. 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Cambridge, ON. 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Gatineau, QC. 30 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Halifax, NS. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- Hamilton, ON. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- Kitchener, ON. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- Laval, QC. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- Longueuil, QC. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- Markham, ON. 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Mississauga, ON. 15 cm or more in diameter
- Montreal, QC. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- Oakville, ON. 15 cm or more in diameter
- Ottawa, ON. 30 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Quebec City, QC. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- Regina, SK. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- Richmond Hill, ON. removal of more than 25% of a tree’s canopy.
- Saskatoon, SK. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- Sherbrooke, QC. Tree removal without a permit is illegal.
- St John’s, NL. Tree removal without a permit is illegal only in specific situations.
- Toronto, ON. 30 cm or more in diameter, DBH
- Vaughan, ON. 20 cm or more in diameter, DBH
Permits NOT required for tree removal on private urban properties in these cities and municipalities listed below.
Ajax, ON, Barrie, ON, Brantford, ON, Calgary, AB, Clarington, ON, Edmonton, AB, Guelph, ON, Kelowna, BC, Kingston, ON, London, ON, Milton, ON, Oshawa, ON, Red Deer, AB, St Catherines, ON, Terrebonne, QC, Thunder Bay, ON, Whitby, ON, Waterloo, ON, Windsor, ON, Winnipeg, MN.