If you own a Toronto property with a large tree, a ravine lot, or a replanting condition from a permit, four things change on September 1, 2026. A new formal category for very large trees changes how Urban Forestry reviews removal and injury applications. Ravine permit applications now carry fees for the first time. Trees planted under permit conditions are protected from the moment they go in the ground. And the replacement obligation for unpermitted removal of a large tree gets steeper.
The 30 cm DBH threshold for private tree protection stays where it is. A widely covered proposal to drop it to 20 cm is not part of these amendments and has no effective date.
The Distinctive Tree Category Becomes Law
If you have a large tree on your property, the city now has a formal category for it.
A tree with at least one stem measuring more than 61 centimetres DBH (diameter at breast height, measured 1.4 metres above grade) is eligible for designation as a Distinctive Tree under new §813-11 and §658-1. The threshold is “greater than 61 centimetres.” A tree sitting at exactly 61.0 cm doesn’t qualify.
The designation isn’t automatic. The city’s Executive Director decides whether the tree is healthy and meets the definition. Once it does, two things change.
First, it becomes a mandatory review criterion. New §813-16.L requires the Executive Director to consider whether any tree named in a permit application qualifies as a Distinctive Tree before deciding on that application. This applies to both Chapter 813 private-tree applications and Chapter 658 ravine applications under §658-5.1.
Second, the Executive Director can refuse a permit to injure or destroy a Distinctive Tree. That refusal isn’t automatic either. Council’s direction is that applicants be told to meet with Urban Forestry and amend the application, so there’s a meet-and-confer step before any hard stop. You can revise project scope, adjust the footprint, or reroute work away from the tree. Outright refusal is on the table, but the process is set up to find an amended path first.
If you’ve got a tree in this size range and any construction in the pipeline, two things are worth doing before September. Get a certified arborist to assess and document the tree’s condition and diameter. Then, if work is planned near the root zone, understand what the distinction between a removal permit and a permit to injure means for your project. A well-documented condition report is what any application involving a Distinctive Tree will need.
The city also announced a 2026 pilot program, the Distinctive Tree Maintenance Incentive, to help private owners with the cost of caring for large healthy trees above the 61 cm threshold. An outcomes report is expected at the Infrastructure and Environment Committee in 2027. Eligibility details and application information weren’t available as of publication.
Ravine Permit Applications Now Carry Fees
If your lot touches a ravine-protected area, you’ve always needed a permit for work affecting trees there. Chapter 658 covers trees of any size in those areas, not just the 30 cm DBH trees that trigger Chapter 813. What it didn’t do was charge you for that permit. That changes September 1.
New fees under Chapter 441 Appendix C Schedule 20:
- Non-construction ravine applications: $87.57 per tree
- Non-construction boundary or neighbour-tree applications: $183.03 per tree
- Construction ravine applications: $262.72 per tree
- Construction boundary or neighbour-tree applications: $549.08 per tree
- Grade alteration in a ravine with no trees involved: $632.51 per application
The fees are non-refundable and will be adjusted annually. A construction application involving two ravine trees crosses $500 in permit fees alone, before any arborist or preparation costs.
Exemptions cover: Toronto Community Housing (on its non-profit portion), Habitat for Humanity, recognized non-profit social housing organizations, applicants below Statistics Canada’s low-income cutoff (before tax), voluntary stewardship projects, and TRCA or City division stewardship and restoration work.
For ravine lot owners, projects that previously had no permit fee now do. Deck additions, utility work, pool installations, grade changes near ravine-protected land, all of it falls under Chapter 658. The tree protection service covers the arborist documentation typically required alongside these applications.
Newly Planted Trees Are Protected from Day One
This one catches people by surprise. If you’re finishing a development project or satisfying a permit condition with a replanting requirement, the new rules apply the moment those trees go in.
Under new §813-12.A through §813-12.E, a tree planted as a condition of a Committee of Adjustment variance, a consent, a Site Plan Agreement, Site Plan Control approval, an Order to Comply, or a permit condition is a protected tree from the moment it’s planted. No size threshold. A sapling installed yesterday under a replanting condition has full bylaw protection today. No grace period.
The old rule tied protection to reaching 30 cm DBH, leaving newly planted trees unprotected for years. That gap is closed for condition-planted trees. If you’re a contractor or property owner finishing a project with replanting obligations, the change is straightforward: once those trees are in the ground, the bylaw applies.
The 30 cm threshold stays in place for all other private trees. §813-12.F preserves the existing rule for trees not covered by §813-12.A through .E. The September amendments restructure the framework, they don’t replace it.
Because permit conditions usually require protection fencing during active construction, the close-out rules described at when tree protection fencing can come down apply to condition-planted trees too. Protection conditions don’t expire on their own.
Contravention Replacement Gets Steeper for Large Trees
Before September 2026, if a protected tree was removed or damaged without authorization, the administrative replacement ratio was a flat 5:1 across all sizes. The September amendments change that to a diameter-based system. The City describes the new requirement as starting at a 5-to-1 ratio and increasing for larger trees.
Remove a large tree without a permit and your replacement obligation now scales with how big that tree was. For trees in the Distinctive Tree range, above 61 cm DBH, the obligation under the new system is higher than the pre-amendment flat rate.
There’s also a new stump-diameter rule under §813-25.B.(5). If a trunk can’t be measured at 1.4 metres above grade, a stump diameter of 40 cm or more at 0.3 metres above ground is enough to establish the tree was protected. Before this amendment, no stump rule existed, which made contravention enforcement harder for trees that were already gone.
If you’re buying or developing a property where unpermitted removal has happened, the replacement obligation under the new system could be significant. The replacement and cash-in-lieu overview explains how Toronto’s permitted-removal replacement ratios work. Contravention ratios apply separately and are steeper.
The 20 cm Proposal Is Not Part of These Amendments
You may have seen coverage of a proposal to drop the private tree protection threshold from 30 cm DBH to 20 cm. It’s not law. City Council endorsed the idea in principle, subject to a detailed analysis and implementation strategy to be reported back to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee in 2027. No effective date. The newly restructured §813-12.F in the September bylaw text still reads “30 centimetres or more.”
The current baseline: private trees at 30 cm DBH or larger need a permit before any injury or removal. The September amendments add four changes around that unchanged threshold. Plan against what’s in force, not what may follow a 2027 report.
Where These Changes Come From
City Council adopted the four amendments on March 25-26, 2026 under item 2026.IE27.8. They amend Municipal Code Chapter 813 (Trees) and Chapter 658 (Ravine and Natural Feature Protection). The September 1, 2026 effective date is set by the bylaw as adopted.
The changes were referred through the Infrastructure and Environment Committee before the full Council vote. The Distinctive Tree Maintenance Incentive, announced alongside the amendments, operates as a 2026 pilot program with an outcomes report expected back at the same committee in 2027.
Getting Your Large Tree or Ravine Project Right
If any of the following apply, September 1 changes the calculation for your project:
- You have a tree with a stem diameter above 61 cm, particularly near planned construction
- Your lot falls within a ravine-protected area and you have applications pending or expected in the next year
- You’re satisfying a replanting condition from a permit, variance, or Site Plan Agreement this season
- Unpermitted tree work has occurred on a property you’re purchasing or developing, and you need to understand the replacement exposure
For Distinctive Tree situations, get a current condition assessment and diameter measurement before any application is filed. A construction arborist report that includes the inventory and condition work gives Urban Forestry what it needs to assess Distinctive Tree status at the application stage.
For ravine lots, build the new fee schedule into your budget before submitting. For projects with replanting conditions, treat the planted trees as protected from day one.
To talk through a specific project, contact us with the tree size, property location, and scope of planned work.