Where a municipal tree permit is required, you apply to the city and the applicant pays the fee at submission. Regional woodland rules and development applications follow their own processes.
Confirm the Tree Falls Under the Bylaw
Before you prepare anything, measure the trunk. Most GTA bylaws protect trees at or above a minimum diameter measured at breast height (DBH), which is 1.4 metres above ground. Wrap a flexible tape around the trunk at that height and divide the circumference by 3.14 to get the diameter. See our DBH measuring guide for the multi-stem and leaning-trunk cases.
The threshold varies by city:
- Toronto and Brampton: 30 cm DBH
- Mississauga: 15 cm DBH
- Burlington: 20 cm DBH inside the Urban Planning Area, excluding Halton woodland
A 20 cm tree needs a permit in Mississauga, and in Burlington’s Urban Planning Area, excluding Halton woodland, but sits under the size threshold in Toronto and Brampton. If you are near a municipal boundary or your property straddles two jurisdictions, check both.
Understand Which Permit Type Applies
Municipalities that require individual tree permits treat healthy trees and dead or dying trees differently, in the paperwork and in the fee.
For a healthy tree, the city requires a written justification: construction impact, disease risk, or property development. The full fee applies, and the arborist report needs to address why removal is warranted rather than alternatives like pruning or root management.
Mississauga charges no permit fee for dead or dying trees. In Toronto, a tree that Urban Forestry has confirmed in writing as 100 percent dead qualifies for an exception. A declining tree that is not completely dead still follows the permit process. Do not treat an exception as self-administered. Get the municipality’s required confirmation before removal.
If the tree poses an immediate safety hazard (a broken scaffold limb, a trunk that has partially failed), Toronto, Mississauga and Brampton let emergency work go ahead first and set no filing deadline, but keep photos and a written record. Richmond Hill differs: it requires a Retrospective Permit with an arborist report and photos taken before removal. Burlington needs written notice within 72 hours.
Get an ISA Certified Arborist Report
Toronto and Mississauga require an arborist report for a healthy tree and not for a dead tree. Toronto’s bylaw lists the report as an application item, and the General Manager may waive it for non-commercial applications. Brampton asks for one only if the Commissioner requires it. Where a report is required, it is the document the reviewer weighs most heavily, and missing information generates a request for revisions.
A complete report covers:
- Species identification and trunk diameter at breast height
- Health condition rating (Good, Fair, Poor or Dead)
- Structural integrity assessment
- The reason removal is proposed
- A replanting plan that meets the specific city’s replacement ratio
For construction-related removals, the report must also address how trees remaining on the property will be protected during the work. That is a different document, a construction impact report. See which report type you need if your situation involves an active build.
The report is the piece most likely to cause delays when it is incomplete or written to the wrong municipality’s standards. Our tree removal reports are written to each city’s requirements, which reduces the chance of a follow-up request.
Locate Your Tree Number on the Permit Portal
When you submit through an online portal, the city assigns each tree on the application a unique tree number. In Toronto, the application goes through the city’s Forest and Environmental Permit System (FEPS) at secure.toronto.ca. Each tree you are seeking to remove gets its own line item with a corresponding tree number.
The permit, if granted, is issued per tree. If you later add a tree to the removal scope, you need to amend the application and pay the fee again. The removal contractor and the arborist reference the same tree numbers throughout, so the site plan and the report need to use consistent identifiers.
Mississauga and Brampton use their own municipal portals. The portal link for each city is in the corresponding permit guide: Toronto permit guide, Mississauga permit guide, Brampton permit guide.
Assemble the Application Package
Once the arborist report is ready, the package for most GTA municipalities includes:
- Completed application form (city-specific)
- ISA Certified Arborist report
- Site plan showing each tree’s location relative to structures and property lines
- Photographs of the tree (exterior, any visible defects)
- The permit fee
Submit everything together. Submitting the form without the arborist report and expecting to add it later costs you time.
Pay the Fee at Submission
The applicant pays the municipal fee at submission. A property owner, contractor, developer, or another party may privately agree who ultimately bears that cost.
Current fees:
- Toronto: $145.87 per tree for removals not tied to construction, and $436.39 per tree for construction-related removals (Chapter 813, 2026 fee schedule). Staff confirm each tree’s category during review and bill any difference before the permit issues.
- Brampton: flat fee per application, non-refundable (not per-tree). Confirm with Brampton for the amount
- Mississauga: a fee for the first healthy tree, a smaller fee for each additional healthy tree, and no fee for dead or dying trees (see Mississauga’s permit guide for the amounts)
RNFP applications in Toronto (Ravine and Natural Feature Protection areas under Chapter 658) follow a separate fee schedule. If your property falls in an RNFP zone, expect a separate fee schedule: $87.57 per ravine tree (non-construction) up to $549.08 per boundary or neighbour ravine tree (construction), and $632.51 for a grade alteration with no trees. Toronto publishes no RNFP review time. If the project needs Site Plan approval or a Building Permit, the RNFP application is reviewed with it.
Wait for the City Review
In Toronto, the planner decides whether to visit the site and can visit at any stage, including before the first comments. Staff check the tree’s location, condition, and whether the arborist report matches what they see on site. Toronto staff review the package as filed and list anything missing in writing. Review picks up again once the missing items arrive. In an RNFP file, each resubmission goes back into the queue by the date it arrives, so a complete first package avoids a second wait.
Approval Comes with Conditions
In Toronto, Urban Forestry first confirms in writing that it supports the application and lists the conditions. That email is not a permit. The permit issues once the conditions are met, such as a signed Undertaking and Release, any fee balance and cash-in-lieu, and approved hoarding photos on a construction file. Urban Forestry sets the number of replacement trees as a permit condition. Chapter 813 itself sets no ratio. If your property cannot accommodate the required number, the city can accept cash-in-lieu at $583 per replacement tree. Reviewers push back on cash-in-lieu when planting space exists.
Brampton sets replanting conditions case by case through the Commissioner of Community Services. Mississauga’s formula is one replacement per 15 cm of diameter, with a security deposit required to confirm the obligation is met.
Do not remove the tree until you have the permit in hand. The fine for unauthorized removal in Toronto runs from a minimum of $500 to a maximum of $100,000 per tree. Brampton’s maximum is $100,000 with an additional daily fine for continuing offences. Beyond fines, the city can order replanting at a ratio more onerous than what the standard permit process would have imposed.