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Tree waste rules in Alberta: fire permits, brush pile and windrow limits and the Forest and Prairie Protection Act

What the Forest and Prairie Protection Act and Alberta Wildfire say about fire permits from March 1 to October 31, the spacing and size limits for brush piles and windrows, burn barrel materials and the fines.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It follows the Forest and Prairie Protection Act, RSA 2000 chapter F-19, in the Alberta King's Printer office consolidation dated May 30, 2024, and two Alberta.ca pages from Alberta Wildfire. All fine amounts are in Canadian dollars.

The Act: fire season and permits

According to the Act's office consolidation, section 17 makes March 1 to October 31 each year the fire season, and the Minister may extend or shorten it for any area. Section 18 says nobody may light an outdoor fire during the fire season on land in a permit area unless they hold a subsisting fire permit. It excepts an attended fire lit for cooking or warming and a petroleum industry flare stack. Section 19 lets a forest officer or fire guardian issue a permit, which is valid only for the period issued and may carry special fire control conditions. A permit can be suspended or cancelled at any time, and the Minister can suspend or cancel all permits in any part of Alberta by order.

Section 22 separately bars lighting an outdoor fire without enough precautions to keep it under control, lighting one when a fire or burning hazard would let it escape, and failing to take reasonable steps to stop it spreading onto other land.

Brush piles and windrows

On its safe burning page, Alberta Wildfire says fire permits are required for all burning except campfires in the Forest Protection Area during the March 1 to October 31 wildfire season. For brush piles and windrows, which it describes as commonly used to burn woody debris from land clearing, it gives these site figures.

  • Piles and windrows at least 25 m from trees and bushes.
  • A fireguard 15 m wide, cleared to mineral soil, around the whole area.
  • Windrows no more than 60 m long with a break of at least 8 m between them, parallel windrows at least 15 m apart, and windrows and piles no more than 6 m wide.

The page says burn barrels must be at least 30 m from structures and trees and lists permitted materials such as brush, fallen trees, tree prunings and untreated wood, and restricted ones such as preserved wood, tires, rubber, plastic and used oil.

Who enforces it, and the penalties

Alberta Wildfire's compliance and enforcement page says the Province handles wildfire activity inside the Forest Protection Area, while cities, towns, counties and municipal districts handle it outside. It lists the regulations under the Act, including the Forest and Prairie Protection Regulation and the Non-Permit Areas Regulation. Under section 37 of the Act, contravening the Act, a regulation, an order or a permit condition carries a fine of not more than CA$50,000 or imprisonment of up to one year for an individual, and not more than CA$500,000 for a corporation. A knowing contravention carries up to CA$100,000 or two years for an individual and up to CA$1,000,000 for a corporation.

For other places see the table on tree waste and chip rules. Another province is on the British Columbia page.

Sources