Protecting our urban forest makes our community healthier and more livable. They provide shade, cleaner air, wildlife habitat and climate benefits. The public and private tree protection by-laws help preserve, protect and enhance the urban forest by minimizing tree removal, preventing damage, requiring tree replacement and promoting tree health.
You’re not allowed to injure, prune or remove public trees on City property. If you must injure, remove or do construction work near public trees, you’ll need a permit. These details are outlined in the Public Tree Protection By-law.
If you must remove trees on private property, you need to comply with the Private Tree Protection By-law. You need a permit to remove trees on your private property if you are removing one or more trees 15 cm (6 inches) or greater in diameter, including dead or dying trees.
We recommend that you consult a certified arborist to ensure your trees are healthy and safe.
If you need to injure or remove a tree, complete the tree permit application form and provide any supporting documents or drawings that are required, such as locations of the trees, an arborist report and a replanting plan. Arborist reports are required for all development and construction projects, but not for dead trees.
When reviewing a tree permit application, the City takes into consideration many factors. Some of the most common criteria include but aren’t limited to:
The City has 30 business days to review your complete application from the date it’s received.
You can apply and pay online for a tree permit.
You can mail your application form, supporting documents, and fees to:
Parks and Forestry Division
PO Box 1850, Station B
Mississauga ON L4Y 3W6
The Parks and Forestry Customer Service Counter at 3240 Mavis Road is currently closed. You can submit your application form, supporting documents, and fees through the dropbox located directly in front of the building, near the delivery area.
A permit and non-refundable base permit fee is required if you’re:
There’s no base fee or additional fees required if you’re applying to remove trees that are dead or dying.
You must submit the non-refundable base permit fee of $388.13 (including HST) with your application. After your application is reviewed, the fee to remove additional healthy trees that are 15 cm (6 inches) or greater in diameter or any public tree is $135.66 (including HST) for each tree.
Replacement trees are required if you’re removing one or more trees 15 cm (6 inches) or greater in diameter on your property or proposing to remove a tree on City property.
A tree replacement security deposit is required to make sure that replacement trees are planted on private property. The amount will be determined by the City. If there’s no space for replacement trees on private property, you must pay to plant replacement trees on City property. The replacement tree fee for public trees will be determined by the City.
The requirements for replacement tree planting are:
Ornamental trees and shrubs, including but not limited to Japanese maples, cedars and junipers, aren’t suitable replacements.
If the replacement tree on private property is healthy one year after being planted, your deposit will be refunded.
To get your deposit refunded, call 311 (or 905-615-4311 from outside City limits) one year after you’ve planted the replacement trees. We’ll schedule an inspection of the new trees before refunding your deposit.