Arborist Reports in Oshawa

Tree Bylaws in Oshawa

Oshawa's By-law 78-2008 protects City Trees only, defined as trees with 50 percent or more of their trunk on municipal property. If you're removing a tree that sits entirely on your own residential or commercial lot, no municipal permit is required, regardless of species or size.

Durham Region's Woodland By-law 30-2020 still applies on top of Oshawa's own rules. It regulates woodlands of 1 hectare or more anywhere in the Region, including Oshawa, and requires a permit before trees in a qualifying woodland can be removed or injured.

Oshawa City Council has discussed extending tree protection beyond city-owned trees, but no private tree bylaw had been enacted as of July 2026. Construction and development applications are a separate matter: site plan control and building permit reviews routinely require an arborist report and tree protection plan even where no private tree bylaw exists.

We prepare the woodland documentation Durham Region's forestry reviewers expect, and the tree inventories and protection plans Oshawa's Development Services Department asks for on site plan and building permit applications, so Oshawa homeowners and builders aren't caught off guard by a paperwork requirement they didn't know applied.