Hamilton Permit Guide
Hamilton's Proposed 2026 Tree Bylaw for Builders and Property Owners
Hamilton is proposing one harmonized private tree bylaw to replace the current patchwork.
Status: PROPOSED, not yet law. Hamilton City Council has not voted on this bylaw. Everything below describes the draft rules City staff put forward for public consultation. Treat every number here as a draft until this page is updated. We'll update it the day the bylaw passes.Get notified when that happens.
Summary of the Draft
Hamilton is replacing a 25-year-old patchwork of tree rules, different bylaws left over from Ancaster, Dundas, and Stoney Creek before amalgamation, plus large gaps where no permit is required at all, with one Harmonized Private Tree By-law that would apply within the city's urban boundary. The draft, presented to Planning Committee in February 2026, proposes:
A 45cm trunk diameter (DBH) threshold for when a homeowner needs a permit to remove a tree
A simpler, scaled process: removing 1-2 trees needs a form and a sketch, and 3 or more trees need a full arborist report and tree protection plan
Replacement planting requirements if you remove a protected tree without an exemption
Separate, tighter rules for construction and development sites, including small infill projects of 10 units or fewer that currently fall outside standard development tree protection
Public consultation closed April 23, 2026. City staff told council they expected to bring back final bylaw language in Q2 or Q3 2026. No committee date is set.
Hamilton's urban tree canopy sits at roughly 21% today, and the City's own target is 40% by 2050, a goal that depends heavily on the approximately 5.2 million trees inside the urban boundary, about 58% of which sit on private property. A harmonized rulebook, replacing five separate bylaws with different thresholds, is staff's mechanism for getting there without a patchwork of exemptions.
If You're a Builder or Developer
One of the two rules below applies today, whether or not the new bylaw passes.
The 10cm Tree Protection Guidelines apply right now
If your project needs Planning Act approval, a site plan, subdivision, condominium, or official-plan/zoning amendment, you are already subject to Hamilton's Tree Protection Guidelines today, and that doesn't change with this new bylaw. Those guidelines currently apply to any tree 10cm DBH or greater on the site, require a tree inventory, tree protection plan, and arborist report prepared by a qualified professional, and use a four-step process (inventory, management plan, construction-phase protection, landscape plan) before you can grade, service, or build. Compensation is currently 1:1 up to 29cm DBH and jumps to 3:1 at 30cm or greater, or 10:1 inside a designated natural area. Hamilton has a draft update to these guidelines out for consultation too. The mechanics described above are proposed to continue, with the compensation tiers tightened from the flat 1:1 rule that's been in place since 2010.
Any infill, subdivision, or multi-unit project going through Planning Act approval needs a 10cm-DBH inventory and arborist report today.
The proposed bylaw would close the small-infill gap
If your project is 10 residential units or fewer, you may not trigger Planning Act tree protection at all under Bill 23 (the More Homes Built Faster Act), which is the gap the new private-tree bylaw is designed to close. City staff have specifically called out that these smaller infill and intensification projects "can be substantial in scale and impact" and are proposing the new Harmonized Private Tree By-law apply to them directly, at the same 45cm threshold and same 3-trees-triggers-a-report rule as any other property owner, but only within the urban boundary, and only once the bylaw passes.
If you're doing a 10-unit-or-fewer infill build inside Hamilton's urban boundary, budget for two possibilities: the 10cm Planning Act track if it applies today, and, once the new bylaw passes, an arborist report the moment you're removing three or more trees over 45cm on a project that falls outside Planning Act triggers. An arborist report done during site planning, before you commit to a layout, costs less than a permit requirement discovered after excavation starts.
No by-law text or fee schedule is final, and no council date is confirmed, so the permit cost and approval time are not known yet. Hamilton has told council it wants to keep the new process simple and reduce red tape for individual homeowners. That points to a fast approval for straightforward removals rather than a full site plan review.
If You're a Homeowner
Right now, unless you live in the old Ancaster, Dundas, or Stoney Creek permit areas, Hamilton does not require a permit to remove a tree on your own property.
Under the proposed rules, and only if your property is within Hamilton's urban boundary, you'd need a permit before removing a tree 45cm DBH or larger, roughly the size of a mature street tree, not a young sapling or ornamental. Trunk diameter is measured at chest height (1.4m off the ground). Rural Hamilton properties (Flamborough, rural Glanbrook, rural Ancaster) are not covered by this proposed bylaw and would stay exempt from a private-tree permit requirement.
The draft exempts a tree that is:
- Within 2 metres of a building you live in
- Dead or hazardous
- Being pruned, or removed as part of emergency work
- Tree-of-Heaven, currently the only species Ontario classifies as invasive under the Invasive Species Act
For everything else that clears the threshold and doesn't qualify for an exemption, the process staff have proposed scales with how many trees you're removing:
- 1-2 trees: a completed application form and a simple sketch of where the trees are. No arborist report required.
- 3 or more trees: a completed application, plus a full arborist report and tree protection plan.
Replacement planting would also scale: removing up to 4 trees is proposed at a simple 1:1 replacement; removing 5 or more (or removing within a natural heritage area) proposed at 3:1. If a full-size replacement tree doesn't fit your lot, staff have floated letting homeowners use the City's existing free tree giveaway program to satisfy the requirement instead.
Hamilton has not proposed a permit fee yet. Staff looked at eight other Ontario cities for base permit fees and for cash-in-lieu (when you can't fit a replacement tree on site). We'll update this page the moment a fee schedule is public.
If your removal needs an arborist report (3 or more trees, or documentation to support a permit application), we deliver it on the same 2-business-day timeline we use across the GTA. We have no financial interest in whether the tree comes down.
What Could Still Change
Hamilton's own staff report notes real disagreement during consultation over what size tree the City should regulate, and flags pushback from some councillors concerned about "red tape" for constituents. The 45cm threshold, the exemption list, and the fee schedule are all still open. We will update this page when the final numbers are official.
Get notified the day this becomes law
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