Tree Removal Permit Guide for Vancouver, BC

When Vancouver requires a permit

Protection of Trees By-law No. 9958 governs private trees on Vancouver lots. A permit is needed before you remove a tree that measures 20 cm or more in diameter at 1.4 m above the ground. Trees below that size sit outside the permit rule, except replacement trees and trees that are part of a hedge (s.2.2).

Multi-stem trees catch people out. The City measures the two or three largest stems and adds their diameters together, so a clump of thin stems can cross the threshold even when no single stem comes close.

Street trees on City land follow a different law, Street Trees Bylaw No. 5985. If a tree stands close to the sidewalk or a property line, find out who owns it before you plan any work.

What the permit costs

Vancouver prices the permit by how many trees you take down in a 12-month period:

• The first tree costs $113.
• Each additional tree in that same period costs $324.

The City also holds security against the replacement planting. It is $500 per replacement tree, or $750 where the replacement tree is 8 cm caliper or more (s.4.10(c)). The higher tier depends on the size of the new tree, not the one you remove.

Replacement trees and cash in lieu

Section 6.3 sets the replacement count, and the replacement species decides it. For each tree removed, the owner plants one replacement tree from Part 1 of Schedule D, or two replacement trees from Part 2.

New stock has a minimum size. Each replacement tree needs a caliper of at least 6 cm at 15 cm above the ground. A tree at least 3.5 m tall also qualifies (Schedule D s.6.3).

Cash-in-lieu of $1,000 per tree (s.6.2) is an owner election. It applies only if the site still has at least the Schedule C number of trees after the removal.

How to apply

Applications go through the City’s online permit portal. The Development and Building Services Centre handles tree permits. Where the application relies on a certificate, its date matters (see the next section).

The City publishes no review time, so confirm it with the City of Vancouver before you book a contractor. Fines run from $500 to $10,000 per offence (s.11.8), and a breach that affects more than one tree is an offence for each tree (s.11.7).

What the arborist report covers

Vancouver frames the arborist’s work as a certificate, and the bylaw is specific about who can sign one. Under Section 3.1, the person who issues a certificate must hold a certification, accreditation or membership “referred to in this By-law” and a licence under the License By-law. Both must be current on the day the certifier signs.

A report behind a Vancouver certificate typically sets out the facts the permit turns on:

• each tree’s diameter at 1.4 m, with combined stems for a multi-stem tree;
• the species of each tree to be removed;
• the number, size and Schedule D part of the proposed replacement trees.

The 30-day certificate rule and second certificates

A certificate has to be dated no more than 30 days before the permit application (s.3.2). A report written in spring for a job that files in summer will not meet that rule. Order the certificate once the rest of the application is ready.

Some files need a second certificate. The bylaw does not let the first certifier sign it: under s.3.3 the second certificate must come from a certifier at arm’s length from the first. Plan for two separate signatures if the City asks for one.

What we do and do not do

• We prepare tree removal permit reports for Vancouver properties.
• 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.
• We do not supervise construction. By-law 9958 s.7.2(e) requires the arborist who certifies the development or building permit report, together with the owner, to give the City an undertaking that the arborist will perform or supervise pre-construction pruning, regular on-site inspections and a post-construction inspection. We do not give that undertaking.