Blog · Waterloo

Waterloo has no private tree by-law. Here is what still applies before you cut a tree down

You do not need a permit to remove a tree on your own property in Waterloo. The City's only tree by-law, By-law 2014-078, protects trees on City property and says nothing about private trees. What still applies is ownership: the boulevard tree is the City's, a tree with its trunk on the property line is jointly owned under Ontario's Forestry Act, and a woodlot of a hectare or more falls under the Region's by-law.

Last updated October 24, 2026 · Reviewed by the Waterloo Tree Removal team

Do you need a permit to remove a tree in Waterloo?

No. The City of Waterloo has no by-law regulating trees on private land. Its City Tree Bylaw, 2014-078, carries the short title "Protection of Trees on City Property Bylaw" and defines the trees it covers as those with a trunk wholly or partly on property owned by the City. The City's own tree page says it plainly: trees on private property are the owner's responsibility. A homeowner in Beechwood or Colonial Acres can have a healthy 25-metre spruce removed because it shades the pool, and nobody at City Hall is asked.

Cambridge requires a permit for any private tree of 20 cm or more, and Kitchener regulates private trees on lots over one acre; Waterloo has neither rule. Simple is not the same as rule-free, though, and the rest of this article is about what does apply.

City trees: the boulevard, parks and trails

The tree between the sidewalk and the curb, and any tree on a park, trail or other public land, belongs to the City of Waterloo and is protected by the City Tree Bylaw. Section 2.1 prohibits cutting down, rooting up, removing, injuring or pruning a city tree, compacting its soil or excavating where damage is likely. The City's parks staff say residents cannot cut, prune or remove city trees, and that the City prunes its trees for safety and clearance, not for appearance or to let more sunlight into a yard.

If a city tree is a problem, the route is Parks Services at 519-886-2310 or parkservices@waterloo.ca, with an online form for non-urgent requests. For storm damage, a large broken branch, a tree blocking a sidewalk or road, or a tree that looks likely to fall, the City asks you to phone right away. When the City does decide to remove one of its trees it marks the trunk with red paint, records it in its inventory and, for a tree over 15 cm in diameter, posts a "Tree Removal Planned" notice at least 14 days ahead unless it is an emergency.

Many lots in Lakeshore and Colonial Acres back onto parkland or a trail, and the trees along that rear boundary are the ones most often cut by mistake. If the trunk is on the park side of your property line, it is the City's.

The neighbour's tree and the Forestry Act boundary tree rule

A tree whose trunk grows on the boundary between two properties is the common property of both owners, and cutting it down without the other owner's consent is an offence. That is not a Waterloo rule; it is section 10 of Ontario's Forestry Act, which says that every tree whose trunk is growing on the boundary between adjoining lands is the common property of the owners of the adjoining lands, and that every person who injures or destroys such a tree without the consent of the land owners is guilty of an offence under the Act.

In practice:

If the trunk is entirely on your side of the line and only the branches cross, the tree is yours to remove.
If the trunk straddles the line at ground level, it is a boundary tree and both owners must agree before it is cut down or significantly injured.
If the trunk is entirely on the neighbour's side, it is theirs. You can generally cut back branches and roots that cross onto your property, but cutting that damages or kills the tree is a dispute waiting to happen, and the sensible route is to talk first and have the whole tree pruned properly.

The contractor we book for Waterloo will not take down a boundary tree without written consent from both sides. Where a fence was built off the line decades ago, it is worth confirming before the saw comes out.

Woodlots, Laurel Creek and the Region's by-law

At the north and west edges of the city, trees stop being yard trees. The Region of Waterloo's Woodland Conservation By-law 08-026 requires a permit before cutting in any woodland of one hectare or more in contiguous size that meets the Forestry Act density tests, for example 250 trees over 20 cm per hectare, and the woodland boundary can run across property lines. Taking a hazard tree out of the edge of a woodlot behind a house toward St. Jacobs is usually a conversation with the Regional Forester at 519-580-0296 rather than a problem; clearing a strip of bush is a permit.

Properties along Laurel Creek, around Columbia Lake and along the creek corridors through Beechwood may also sit inside the Grand River Conservation Authority's regulated area. The GRCA's permit page lists site grading, placing or removing material, and altering a watercourse or wetland as regulated development; cutting a tree is not on the list. Grading the bank afterwards or grinding a stump out of a slope above the creek can be, and the GRCA's Map Your Property tool shows whether an address is inside the regulation limit.

A heritage tree by-law is proposed

The position may change for the largest trees. The City presented a draft Urban Forest Management Strategy to Council on April 13, 2026. The Council summary says the strategy aims to protect and maintain the City's current canopy of 32.5 per cent until 2050 and grow it to 35 per cent by 2070, and that it includes creating a new Heritage Tree bylaw to protect mature trees. Public feedback on the draft ran through the summer and the final report is scheduled for Council on December 7, 2026. Nothing has been adopted as of this writing, so there is still no private tree permit in Waterloo. If a heritage tree by-law follows, the big old specimens on Waterloo's larger lots are what it will be aimed at, and the current position should be re-checked at the time of any large removal.

What this means for your quote

For a tree in your own yard, there is no permit, no application and no waiting. What the site visit settles is ownership: whether the tree is yours, the City's, or shared with the neighbour, and whether the lot runs into a woodlot or a GRCA regulated area. Those questions are asked and answered before a date is set, because the only thing more expensive than a large tree removal is one that had to be explained to the City afterwards. Our large tree removal page covers how a tree that size actually comes down, and the cost page explains what moves the number.

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