Tree Removal Permit Guide for Maple Ridge, BC

When Maple Ridge requires a permit

Section 3.1 of Bylaw 8045-2026 defines a Protected Tree. The main size test is a diameter of 20 cm or more at 1.4 m above grade. A tree with several stems qualifies when its three largest stems add up to 20 cm. A stump counts once it is over 25 cm at grade.

Several groups are protected whatever their size:

• any tree on City property;
• any tree in a Riparian or Conservation Area, which covers SPEA land, slopes over 25% and land under a geotechnical or habitat covenant;
• replacement trees, covenant trees, and trees that a rezoning, subdivision, development permit or building permit required you to keep;
• trees that hold a raptor, osprey or heron nest.

The bylaw also names a Significant Tree class at 60 cm DBH or more.

A new bylaw in 2026 and the first-tree rule

Council adopted Tree Protection and Management Bylaw No. 8045-2026 on May 12, 2026. It fully repealed Bylaw 7133-2015, so older guidance written for the 2015 bylaw no longer applies. The current fees sit in Schedule J of Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 7575-2019, in effect from June 30, 2026.

Two parts of the new rules reward a household that removes one tree in a year. The residential permit fee is lowest for the first tree in a calendar year. And under s.9.5, a permit that removes only one protected tree in a calendar year needs just 1 replacement tree. The size table in s.9.4 applies once a second permit issues that year.

If you plan to remove two trees, the timing matters. Ask the City how it will count them before you apply.

What the permit costs

Schedule J has two streams.

Stream	Fee
Residential, first tree in a calendar year	$70
Residential, each additional tree	$100
Development	$300 plus $100 per tree

A re-inspection is $150. Changing a permit after it issues is $100.

Replacement trees and cash in lieu

Section 9.4 sets the replacement count by the diameter of the tree removed:

• 20 to 39 cm: 2 trees
• 40 to 59 cm: 3 trees
• more than 60 cm: 4 trees

The s.9.5 single-tree rule above can reduce that count to 1.

Cash-in-lieu is $800 per tree, capped at $48,000 per hectare. Replacement security is $640 per tree.

Schedule C sets the planting stock. On a development site, a deciduous tree must be at least 6 cm caliper and a conifer at least 2.50 m tall. Elsewhere the minimum is 4 cm caliper or a 10-gallon pot, or a 2.0 m conifer. Dwarf varieties, topiary, shrubs, hedging cedars and windmill palms are not accepted as replacements.

How to apply

Maple Ridge takes tree permit applications by email at Trees@MapleRidge.ca. Tree permits are not part of the online building-permit portal. Urban Forestry (Facilities, Parks and Properties) handles the file. Confirm the current review time with the City of Maple Ridge.

What the arborist report covers

The City published Terms of Reference for arborist reports on tree cutting applications in August 2026. Read them before a report is ordered. The bylaw itself sets the measurements a report works from:

1. Diameter at 1.4 m for each tree, with the three largest stems summed for a multi-stem tree (Figure 2.0 of the bylaw shows the method).
2. The CRZ of each retained tree. It is a circle whose radius is 6 times the DBH or the dripline, whichever is greater.
3. A barrier plan where a retained Protected Tree has its CRZ within 10 m of excavation, demolition, construction or servicing (s.10.1(a)).
4. The replacement count under s.9.4, or s.9.5 where it applies.

Schedule B describes the barrier. It stands at least 1.20 m high on 2x4 verticals with top and bottom rails and X bracing, or on round untreated posts at least 9 cm across. Verticals sit no more than 3.70 m apart. Continuous high-visibility plastic mesh closes the frame, and weatherproof “Tree Protection Area” signs go on it.

What we do and do not do

We prepare tree removal permit reports. Ask us before you order a Maple Ridge report. We tell you whether we can take your file.

• We confirm availability for your address before we quote.
• If the removal ground is a hazardous or high-risk tree, ask us first. Some Metro Vancouver bylaws require a report author who also holds the ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification.
• We do not offer emergency service.
• The report is where our work stops. We do not supervise construction, and we do not install or check the barrier.