Vaughan homeowners get this wrong in both directions. Some skip the permit because the tree is obviously dead, and land on the wrong side of a by-law (By-law 177-2025, in force June 24, 2025) that was rewritten from scratch. Others assume “dead tree” means “arborist report,” pay for one, and didn’t need to. Vaughan runs a permit built for exactly this situation, and it drops the report requirement that trips people up in other municipalities.
The Dead, Hazardous, or EAB Permit Skips the Arborist Report
Vaughan’s online portal splits tree permits into four application types. For a dead tree, use the Dead, Hazardous, or Emerald Ash Borer-Infected Tree Permit. It does not require an arborist report, and the City’s 2025 Tree Protection Protocol charges no fee and no replacement planting for it (s.3.3.2). The other three cover different jobs: a Construction (or Infill) Permit, a Residential Removal Permit for personal or aesthetic removals, and a Tree Protection Permit, which is about protecting trees during construction rather than taking one down.
The by-law lets the Director of Forestry require an arborist report, and the City’s permit page requires one for every other permit type. If your tree is dead, visibly hazardous, or infested with emerald ash borer, you can apply directly for the removal permit without commissioning a report first. Skip the permit application altogether, though, and you’re still in violation. The tree being dead doesn’t put it outside the by-law. It just changes which application form you fill out. A Tree Permit issued under the current by-law is good for six months from the date of issuance, so there’s no advantage in filing long before you can get the work booked.
Emergency Work Is Exempt, and the Bar Is High
Emergency Work is exempt from the Tree Permit requirement outright, under section 4.0(4)(a) of By-law 177-2025. The by-law defines it as work necessary to stop an immediate threat to life or property.
Neither the by-law nor the City’s 2025 Tree Protection Protocol requires any after-the-fact filing once that work is done. Keep your own record anyway, photos, dated notes, whatever shows why the tree was an immediate threat.
A dead tree standing quietly at the back of the lot, not leaning over anything, not dropping limbs, is dead but not an emergency. That tree needs the Dead/Hazardous/EAB permit, not the emergency exemption.
Pruning Doesn’t Need a Permit Either, Within Limits
Pruning comes up on the same site visit as a way to avoid the paperwork. The by-law defines pruning as removing no more than 25 percent of a tree’s live branches or limbs, done in accordance with good arboricultural practice. A bigger cut still counts as pruning if it’s carried out as part of an annual pruning program. Section 4.0(4) confirms that neither pruning a tree nor removing its dead branches requires a Tree Permit.
Go past that 25 percent mark outside a planned annual program, and the work stops counting as pruning under the by-law’s own definition. The by-law’s definition of Injure includes cutting and trimming, so that work needs a Tree Permit.
Not Every Dead Tree Is the City’s to Regulate
York Region’s Forest Conservation By-law 2013-68 regulates Woodlands, defined as at least one hectare with at least 1,000 trees of any size, 750 trees over 5 cm, 500 trees over 12 cm or 250 trees over 20 cm per hectare. Vaughan’s by-law carves those Woodlands out of its own scope entirely (s.2.0(2)(a)). A dead tree standing inside a Regional Woodland, somewhere near Kleinburg or along the Humber River valley, falls under York Region’s by-law instead of the City’s Dead/Hazardous/EAB permit. The Region’s only exemption tied to a tree’s condition covers a tree in a hazardous condition (s.3.1(o)). It has no exemption for a dead tree, so a dead tree in a Woodland needs a Regional permit unless it is hazardous.
Vaughan did reclaim jurisdiction over the smaller category, Woodlots (0.2 to 1 hectare, with at least 200 trees of any size, 150 over 5 cm, 100 over 12 cm or 50 over 20 cm Diameter per 0.2 hectare), repealing the older by-law that had ceded that ground to the Region. A Woodlot-scale stand of trees is back under the City’s own by-law. Only the larger Woodlands stay with York Region. If your dead ash stands in a treed area of 0.2 hectares or more, a site inspection settles which by-law applies before you file.
Measuring the Tree Determines Which Rules Apply
Diameter is measured at 1.37 metres above existing grade, outside the bark. Multi-stem trees get their own formula: square the diameter of each of the three largest trunks, add the three results, then take the square root of that total. If the tree has already been cut down to less than 1.37 metres in height, the City measures Base Diameter at the ground instead.
On private property, the 20 cm threshold is what pulls a tree into the by-law at all. On public land, the rule is different and stricter: any tree with 50 percent or more of its main stem on Public Lands is protected regardless of size. Our guide on measuring a tree correctly walks through the technique in more detail, since getting the diameter wrong can put a borderline tree on the wrong side of the threshold.
Size adds another gate. Vaughan’s by-law calls any tree of 80 cm Diameter or more a Significant Tree. Section 6.0(2) of the current consolidation lets the City issue a Tree Permit where the Director of Forestry has determined, among other things, that “the Tree is not a Significant Tree” and “the Tree is not a Heritage Tree.” A Heritage Tree is one designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act or recognized through Forests Ontario’s Heritage Tree Program. The section makes no exception for a dead tree.
What Removal Without a Permit Costs
Vaughan’s 2025 rewrite added an Administrative Monetary Penalty track, a ticket-style system that lets a By-law Enforcement Officer issue a penalty without going to court. For a private tree, destroying it without a permit runs $900 to $2,700 depending on diameter, on a tiered schedule that climbs at 20-30 cm, 31-40 cm, 41-50 cm, and over 50 cm. Injuring a private tree without a permit is a flat $750. Working inside a Tree Protection Zone without authorization is $2,700.
By-law 251-2025 set the penalty amounts on November 25, 2025. The AMP track didn’t replace the Provincial Offences Act route. Both are still available to the City. On conviction, section 11.0 sets a fine of up to $100,000 per offence, up to $10,000 a day for a continuing offence, and a special fine above $100,000 where the offence brought an economic gain. Removing a genuinely dead tree the correct way, through the Dead/Hazardous/EAB permit, costs no City fee. For the replacement math that follows a removal once it’s approved, our post on replanting versus cash-in-lieu across the GTA breaks down how the per-tree fees stack up.
Getting the Right Permit the First Time
If you’ve got a dead, hazardous, or ash-borer-infested tree in Vaughan, apply under the permit built for it. The Arborist Group prepares site documentation and permit applications for Vaughan homeowners, including confirming whether a property sits inside a Regional Woodland or Woodlot before you file. Our tree removal report service covers the site visit and the paperwork. Contact us with the tree’s location and what’s wrong with it, and we’ll confirm which of Vaughan’s four permit types applies before you spend money on anything else.