Tree rules in Brampton: permits, protected trees and fees

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It restates three City of Brampton sources as read on October 8, 2026: the Tree Regulations and Plans page, the Tree Services page and the office consolidation of Tree Preservation By-law 317-2012. The wider list of cities is on the guide to tree permits in the largest Canadian cities.

Where a permit is required

The Tree Services page says the Urban Forestry team plants, maintains and removes trees on public property, meaning parks, open spaces and boulevards, while residents are responsible for trees on private property. It says the City does not remove trees on private property. A permit for private tree removal is required if the tree is more than 2 metres from an occupied building and has a diameter of 30 centimetres or more at 1.37 metres height. The Tree Regulations page states the two exemptions the other way round: no permit for a tree within 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches) of an occupied building, and no permit for a tree under 30 centimetres (12 inches) at 1.37 metres. If ownership of a tree is unclear, a service request lets the Urban Forestry team decide who owns it. The page says every service request includes an inspection and that the inspector leaves a door hanger to confirm it was done.

What the by-law covers and leaves out

The by-law applies to all private property in the City. A tree for its purposes is a woody perennial that has reached or can reach 4.5 metres at maturity, and where several stems share a root system each stem counted at 1.37 metres is one tree. No one may injure a tree, and injuring includes physical, biological or chemical damage as well as removal, except under an exemption or a permit. Pruning for maintenance is excluded from the definition of injure. Its exemptions are woodlots, hazardous trees, emergency work, trees within 2 metres of an occupied building, trees under 30 centimetres, rooftop garden, courtyard and solarium trees, nursery and orchard trees, and trees Council exempts. Provincial law adds more: work by the municipality, surveyors, electricity transmitters and distributors, aggregate pits and quarries, and removals that are a condition of a site plan, subdivision or consent approval.

Woodlots

Woodlots are handled under the separate Woodlot Conservation By-law. The Tree Regulations page defines a woodlot as at least 0.2 hectares with 200 trees of any size per 0.2 hectare, or 150 trees over 5 cm, or 100 trees over 12 cm, or 50 trees over 20 cm, and leaves out fruit and nut orchards and Christmas tree or nursery stock plantations. A permit is required for alterations to a woodlot outside the formal development approval process, and the application must carry a Silvicultural Prescription, described as a site-specific plan for long-term woodlot management.

Permits, conditions and exemptions

The by-law delegates permit issuing to the Commissioner of Community Services. A permit can be issued where an arborist is satisfied the work follows Council's natural heritage and environmental policies and the applicant shows the work is justified by the size, species, condition and location of the trees, with the dates, the people doing the work and the replacement trees identified. Conditions can cover timing, who may do the work, replacement species, size and location, and protection for trees on adjacent land. The application needs the owner's signature, the fee from the City's User Fee By-law 380-2003 (the pages read do not state the amount), an arborist report if the Commissioner requires one, and written consent from the neighbour for a boundary tree. A permit expires one year after issue and can be renewed once for a further year. An owner can instead ask Council for an exemption at least six weeks before the work, the Clerk notifies abutting owners at least seven days before Council considers it, and Council may grant it, grant it with conditions or refuse it.

Orders and fines

An officer who finds a contravention can issue an order to stop or a work order that can include planting or replanting trees, and the City may do the work at the owner's expense if the order is not met. On conviction the maximum fine is CA$100,000, with up to CA$10,000 for each day or part of a day a continuing offence runs, and up to CA$10,000 for each offence in a multiple offence, neither of those limited to CA$100,000 in total. The by-law says economic advantage from injuring a tree may be an aggravating factor that attracts a special fine above CA$100,000. A court can also order the offence stopped and the contravention corrected.