Toronto Tree Removal Permit: The Rules, the Fines, and When Pruning Is the Smarter Fix

When you actually need a permit

Toronto protects private trees under its Private Tree By-law, Municipal Code Chapter 813. The trigger is size. As of 2026, any privately owned tree measuring 30 cm or more in diameter, taken at 1.4 m up the trunk (what arborists call DBH, or diameter at breast height), is protected.

If a tree clears that threshold, the process looks like this:

• You need a permit to remove or seriously injure it. Not just removal, the bylaw covers injuring a protected tree too.
• The application includes an arborist report describing the tree's size, species, condition, and the reason for the work.
• The city reviews it, roughly 30 business days, sometimes longer.
• A permit often comes with a replanting condition. You take one down, you put one or more back.

Worth knowing: the 30 cm threshold has been under review, with proposals to protect smaller trees. The safe move is to measure your tree and assume anything close to 30 cm across is protected until the city tells you otherwise. A Toronto tree removal permit is not a formality you can skip on a guess about your tree's size. And if your lot sits near a municipal line, the number changes the moment you cross it. Both Oakville and Mississauga protect trees at 15 cm, half of Toronto's threshold, so a tree that is fair game on one side of the border can be fully protected on the other. Burlington sits between, protecting trees at 20 cm.

What the permit costs you, in money and in time

There are two costs here, and both sit on top of the tree work itself. There is the city application fee, and there is the arborist report that has to go with the application. Neither is huge on its own, but they are real and they are separate line items.

Then there is time. Budget several weeks. The roughly 30 business day review is the floor, not a promise, and it stretches in busy season or if the city comes back asking for more detail.

One exception worth knowing: if a tree is an immediate hazard, there is a faster path. The city treats actively dangerous trees differently from a routine removal. That is the exception, not the everyday rule, so do not count on it for a tree that is simply in the way.

This is why timing matters. If you already know a tree needs attention, start early rather than the week you want the work done. And if the job turns out to be pruning rather than removal, our guide on when to prune trees in southern Ontario walks through the seasonal timing.

What happens if you skip it

The fines are the part people underestimate. Under Chapter 813, the penalty for removing or injuring a protected tree without a permit starts at $500 per tree and can run up to $100,000 per tree.

Read that again: per tree. Two trees, double the exposure. And the city does act on complaints. Neighbours notice when a mature tree disappears over a weekend, and they report it.

So the math is simple. A removal you could have permitted for a modest fee turns into a five-figure problem the moment you cut without one. It is not a gamble worth taking, and no honest contractor will tell you otherwise.

Where the rules get stricter: ravines, heritage, and city trees

Three situations tighten things beyond the standard private-tree rule:

• Ravine and natural-feature land. If your property sits in or near a protected ravine, a separate set of rules applies on top of the tree bylaw. The protections there are stronger.
• City-owned trees. The tree on the boulevard or right at the curb is often the city's, not yours. You cannot touch it, and neither can we. That is city forestry's call.
• Heritage properties and some development sites carry extra conditions of their own.

When you are unsure who owns the tree, or which set of rules stacks on top of which, that is a question to settle before anyone climbs. Guessing wrong on a ravine lot or a city tree is exactly how a small job becomes a fine.

The part most homeowners miss: you might not need a removal at all

Here is what we see on a lot of quote visits. The homeowner is braced for a full removal, and the permit headache that comes with it, and the actual problem is one limb hanging over the roof, or a canopy that has gotten too dense and heavy on one side.

Pruning a protected tree the right way, within the bylaw, often solves the problem with no removal permit at all. A healthy mature tree is an asset the city is trying to keep for good reasons, and keeping it, well pruned, is usually cheaper and faster than taking it down.

Worth asking before you commit to a removal: is the whole tree the problem, or is it a couple of limbs? More often than not, it is the limbs. That is exactly the work we do, whether it is careful pruning to bring a canopy back into shape or taking down a single heavy limb that is the real hazard.

One honest caveat: heavy pruning of a protected tree can still trigger the bylaw, because the rule covers injuring a tree, not only removing it. So the same check-first discipline applies. We confirm whether your specific job needs a permit before we touch the tree.

How we handle protected trees on a job

Our lane is pruning and limb removal, owner-led, across south Ontario. Full tree takedowns are not something we offer yet, so if your tree genuinely has to come out, we will tell you straight and point you to the right process rather than pretend it is our job.

For the pruning and limb work we do, the routine is the same every time:

• We read the bylaw for your property first and tell you honestly whether the work needs a permit before anything starts.
• We keep cuts clean and within what a protected tree can take, so the tree stays healthy and you stay compliant.
• We do not touch limbs on or near hydro lines. That is the utility's territory, every time, no exceptions.

A Toronto tree removal permit sounds like a wall, and for a genuine removal it is a real process you should not shortcut. But for most of the pruning and limb work a homeowner actually needs, the smarter path is to keep the tree, prune it right, and skip the permit headache entirely. Tell us what is going on with your tree and we will tell you which path you are on.