The permit to take down a healthy tree in Mississauga costs $399.77. That is the number people budget for, and it is the cheap part. The expensive number arrives later, when the city works out how many replacement trees you owe, because that count comes off the diameter of the tree you just cut down.
The Threshold Catches Trees You Might Not Expect
A tree on your property is protected once it measures 15 cm or more across the trunk, measured from outside the bark at 1.4 metres above the ground. That is a smaller tree than most people picture when they hear “protected,” and it triggers Private Tree Protection By-law 0021-2022. On a multi-stem tree the city adds up the diameters of all the stems at that same 1.4 metre height, so a clump can clear the threshold when no single stem would. A tree only counts at all if it’s a woody perennial that has reached, or could reach, 4.5 metres tall at maturity, so a shrub that will never get that tall is not caught by the bylaw, no matter how thick its stem gets.
All of this covers private property only. Trees on city-owned streets and in parks fall under a separate instrument, the Public Tree Protection By-law 0020-2022, administered on its own track.
Dead Trees Still Need a Permit, Just Not a Fee
A lot of people get this backward. A dead or dying tree is not exempt from the permit requirement. You still have to apply. What changes is the paperwork and the price: no arborist report is needed to support the application, and the city charges nothing for the permit. The 2026 fee schedule widened the fee side of that to hazardous trees as well, so a tree that is structurally shot but still alive now gets the same free permit.
Ash gets an even shorter path. The current application form states outright that all ash trees are considered dead or dying, a standing citywide policy that reflects how badly Emerald Ash Borer has hit the local canopy. That single line waives both the fee and the arborist report for any ash removal, with no case-by-case argument required. If you are unsure what species you are dealing with, our guide to submitting a GTA tree permit application covers what documentation the city actually wants to see.
The Fee Is Two Tiers, and You Only Pay One Up Front
For a healthy tree, the base permit fee is $353.78 plus HST, $399.77 out the door, and that covers one tree. Every tree after the first adds $123.65 plus HST, or $139.72. You don’t pay those at submission, though. The city bills them after an inspection, so the amount due when you file is $399.77 no matter how many trees are on the application.
That base fee is non-refundable once paid, with one softening. If the city deems your application withdrawn, which happens when it sits incomplete past a deadline an officer sets or simply reaches two years old, the bylaw allows a partial refund of the application fee.
Processing takes up to 30 business days from the point your application is complete. A fall removal needs a summer application if you want the tree down before the ground freezes.
The Replanting Count Is Arithmetic
The city’s own communications state the ratio plainly: one replacement tree for every 15 cm of diameter removed. A 45 cm tree comes out to three replacement trees. A 90 cm trunk comes out to six, which is more planting stock than a lot of front yards can physically hold.
The bylaw text itself does not hard-code that ratio. Section 24(2) says more than one replacement tree may be required “based on the Diameter of the Tree that was removed in accordance with the applicable City policy,” which leaves the actual multiplier to internal policy rather than the by-law. Plan around one per 15 cm regardless. That is the number the city puts in public writing.
A replanting condition also brings a security deposit, in a form the city finds acceptable, sized to cover the replacement tree’s cost plus up to two years of maintenance. You get it back after a final inspection confirms the tree is still healthy at least a year after planting. Skip the planting or the required work, and the city can take that deposit, in whole or in part, and drop it into the Replacement Tree Planting Fund.
When the Lot Cannot Hold the Trees You Owe
Not every property has room for three or six new trees. Where a removed tree cannot be replaced on the same lot, an officer can order the replacement planted on city property instead, or require a cash-in-lieu payment into that same Replacement Tree Planting Fund. That power sits in the bylaw’s enforcement-order provisions rather than on the permit application itself, but it is the general cash-in-lieu route in practice.
The 2026 fee schedule puts a specific number on it: $901.67 per tree, HST exempt, for a private-property tree of 15 cm or larger diameter. Run the same 45 cm maple through that formula and cash-in-lieu for all three replacements comes to $2,705.01, on top of whatever the removal itself cost. Our replanting and cash-in-lieu comparison across the GTA breaks down how that compares to what neighbouring cities charge for the same trade-off.
Heritage Trees Run on a Separate Track
Heritage Tree status changes the process entirely. Where a tree carries that designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, section 6 of the bylaw prohibits injuring or destroying it without approval under that Act first. Get that approval, and section 17(12) exempts the work from the tree permit requirement altogether. The Heritage Act approval displaces the permit. You do not stack one on the other.
A separate provision gets mixed up with that one constantly. Section 18(5) covers a tree on a lot designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, where the City’s Heritage Coordinator gives a written opinion on the tree’s relevance to the designation. If it’s relevant, the Heritage Advisory Committee approves (or refuses) the injury or destruction. That route is a ground for issuing a permit rather than a substitute for one.
Where This Comes From
The current bylaw in force is Private Tree Protection By-law 0021-2022, as amended by By-law 0144-2025, which Council passed on September 24, 2025 via Resolution 0191-2025. That amendment added a formal definition of “hazard,” tightened the window to request a review of a refused or revoked permit to 10 days (with a non-refundable administrative fee), and added the rule that stalled applications are deemed withdrawn after two years. The base bylaw took effect April 1, 2022 and replaced the prior By-law 0254-2012. Fees referenced here come from the 2026 Parks, Forestry and Environment fee schedule, effective January 1, 2026 and amended by By-law 0048-2026.
Mailed and drop-off applications go to the Forestry Section at 3240 Mavis Road. That counter was closed at last check. The city’s online system is the practical channel for most homeowners now.
Getting the Application and the Report Right
The replanting count is the number to work out before you apply. We prepare the arborist reports the city’s application requires, and we’ll run the one-per-15-cm math against your actual tree so you know whether you’re looking at a small planting job or a cash-in-lieu payment in the thousands. Our tree removal report service covers the documentation piece end to end. Contact us with the tree’s diameter and address and we’ll tell you what the permit and the replanting requirement will actually cost before you submit anything.