Do You Need a Permit to Remove a Tree in Toronto?

The 30 cm rule, and how to measure it

Under the Tree Protection By-law, Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 813, a privately owned tree is protected once its trunk measures 30 cm or more in diameter. Diameter is taken at 1.4 m above ground level, roughly chest height on most adults, which arborists call DBH.

You can check it with a tape measure in a minute. Measure the circumference of the trunk at 1.4 m and divide by 3.14. A circumference of about 94 cm is the 30 cm threshold. Multi-stem trees and trees on a slope have their own measuring rules, so borderline cases are worth confirming before anyone starts cutting.

Below 30 cm, a private tree in a normal yard is generally not regulated by the private tree bylaw. Two exceptions override that: trees planted as a condition of a previous permit or a site plan agreement are protected at any size, and so is anything in a ravine.

The three by-laws that can apply to one tree

Private trees fall under Chapter 813, protected at 30 cm and above. City-owned trees, including the ones on the boulevard between the sidewalk and the road, are also covered by Chapter 813 and are protected at any size. Those are never a homeowner decision, whoever planted them or mows around them.

Ravine land runs on Chapter 658, the Ravine and Natural Feature Protection By-law, where every tree is protected regardless of diameter along with the land it stands on. Large parts of North York sit inside ravine boundaries near the Don and its tributaries, and homeowners are regularly surprised to learn their back garden is in one.

Ravine properties can carry a second layer of approval on top of the City’s. Land within a regulated area of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority is subject to TRCA permission for work affecting the valley, slope or watercourse, which runs alongside the ravine by-law rather than replacing it.

Which by-law applies is decided by where the tree stands, not by who planted it or who has been raking its leaves.

Dead, dying and dangerous trees

A tree that is 100% dead needs no permit for removal in Toronto. That is the one clean exemption, and it is why an arborist confirming a tree is fully dead is worth having in writing.

A tree that is terminally diseased or imminently hazardous still goes to the City, through a permit exception confirmation rather than a standard application. The route is faster than a healthy-tree application and it runs on evidence, which means photographs, a diagnosis and a professional opinion on the failure risk.

A storm-damaged tree that is still alive is not automatically exempt. If it can wait, it goes through the exception process. If a limb is hanging over a bedroom tonight, we make it safe first and document why.

What the application involves

Applications go to Urban Forestry with an application fee, a site plan, and an arborist report covering species, diameter, condition and the reason for removal. City staff review the file and visit the site.

Where the application is to remove a healthy tree, the City posts a public Notice of Application on the property, and it stays up for no less than 14 days before a decision. Build that wait into any project schedule.

Approvals usually come with conditions, and replacement planting is the standard one. Where the lot has no room for the replacement trees, Urban Forestry accepts cash in lieu at $583 per tree, payable by certified cheque or money order.

What it costs to skip it

A conviction under the Tree Protection By-law carries a minimum fine of $500 and a maximum of $100,000 for each tree destroyed, and the court can order replanting on top of the fine.

Removal is not the only thing that counts. The by-law regulates injuring a protected tree as well, which covers heavy over-pruning, cutting roots, trenching through a root zone, and compacting soil with equipment. Contractors on renovation sites hit this one regularly.

Routine pruning is the exception homeowners are entitled to rely on: no permit is required to prune a tree in accordance with good arboricultural practice to maintain its health. Cutting beyond that standard can be treated as injury and needs an injury permit.