Tree Removal & City Permits · Cambridge

Tree Removal and By-law 23-105 Permits in Cambridge

In most of the region, removing your own tree is a scheduling question. In Cambridge it is a permit question first, and a large removal here starts with a report, not a chainsaw.

Cambridge's Private Tree Preservation By-law 23-105 has been in force since the start of 2024 and it changed how tree removal works in the city. Any private tree of 20 cm or more in diameter, measured at 1.4 metres, needs a City permit before it is injured or removed, whatever the size of the lot, and a permit for a healthy tree carries a replacement requirement. That is a real cost and a real delay, and it is why the first question on a Cambridge removal is whether the tree needs to come down at all, and the second is which route through the by-law applies.

Three routes through the by-law

• Healthy tree, owner wants it gone. Full permit: arborist report with species, diameter and condition, photographs of the whole tree, adjacent owner consent if it is near the line, the City's application fee, and replacement trees or cash-in-lieu by Schedule A. Allow several weeks. The permit is posted on the property five days before work and lasts twelve months.
• Dead tree. No permit, but a removal request to the City first with a photo, the location, species and diameter, approved before cutting. This is the route for most of the dead ash in the city and it moves quickly.
• Imminent hazard or emergency. A hazard needs a qualified professional's assessment submitted before removal. A true emergency, a tree on the house, can be made safe immediately and must be documented to the City within 48 hours.

How a large Cambridge tree actually comes down

The housing stock dictates the method. On the river lots of Galt and Preston the trees are big, the lots are steep and the drop zone is often the river or the neighbour's roof, so the tree is dismantled from the top by a roped climber with every section lowered on a rigging line. In the mill-era streets of Hespeler and the older Preston blocks, lots are narrow and the only machine access is from the street, which points to a crane lifting sections over the house. In the newer subdivisions off Franklin Boulevard and in the south end, trees are younger, access is better and a bucket truck from the drive often does it. The quote names the method and why.

What is checked before the date is set

• Whose tree it is. Boulevard trees are the City's and are reported to Service Cambridge at 519-623-1340 rather than cut. Boundary trees need the neighbour's written consent under the by-law.
• Lines. GrandBridge Energy's primary lines and the service wire to the house set the working clearances; the utility is involved before the day where the tree cannot be worked around them.
• The GRCA. On a valley lot, whether the stump, the grading or the equipment route touches anything the conservation authority regulates.
• Ground protection. Sheets of plywood under the chipper and along the log route, boards across the beds, and a tidy-up at the end that leaves nothing behind but the gap where the tree stood.

Ten or more trees over 20 cm, for a lot being cleared, is not a tree permit at all but a Site Alteration Permit through the City's engineering division, and that is a longer process we will tell you about honestly rather than splitting the job to get around it.

Frequently asked questions

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