New Westminster tree rules for homeowners and property managers
Everything behind the permit checker, in plain English. Each rule cites the City of New Westminster document it comes from.
What is a protected tree in New Westminster?
You need a permit to cut or remove a protected tree, and damaging one is an offence. New Westminster uses one size limit for every property, whether or not it's being developed.
Any species
20 cm
trunk diameter and up, measured 1.3 m above the base. For a tree with several trunks, the two largest are added together.
Specimen trees
60 cm
Large, mature trees over 60 cm. Owner-occupiers can't have the arborist report waived on a lot with one.
City land
Any size
Every tree and shrub on City land or a street boulevard is protected, however small.
Protected at any size
- Trees and shrubs on City-owned land, including boulevards
- Trees shown as kept on a tree protection plan (retained trees)
- Trees planted as replacements under a tree replacement plan
- Trees with evidence of nesting by a bird
- Hedges 5 m or taller (five or more plants less than 1.25 m apart)
How to measure your tree
Measure 1.3 m above the base of the trunk, where the root collar meets the ground. Wrap a tape around the trunk and divide by 3.14 for the diameter: 63 cm around is about 20 cm across.
Hedges planted as hedges aren't measured by trunk size. They're protected once they reach 5 m tall, from the trunk flare to the tip of the tallest branch.
When you don't need a tree permit
Trees under 20 cm that aren't in a special category need no permit. For protected trees, proper pruning and genuine emergencies are handled differently.
Pruning done properly
Pruning a protected tree needs no permit if it follows the ANSI A300 standard and the ISA pruning best practices. These don't count as pruning, and doing them to a protected tree is damage:
- raising the crown until less than half the tree's height has live branches
- removing more than 25% of the crown in one season
- topping, including re-topping a tree that was topped before
- pruning or removing structural roots inside the critical root zone
A genuine emergency
If a protected tree is about to fall and hurt someone or damage property because of natural causes, and there's no time to get a permit, the owner can have it cut. Take a photo first, report it to the City by the next business day, and leave the wood on the property until the City has confirmed the danger. A replacement tree and security still apply, and if the City finds there was no imminent danger, fines can follow.
Bylaw 7799, s.5.6, s.5.7 and s.2.1(t) and (vv).Will the City approve removing my tree?
New Westminster is strict: the bylaw lists the only reasons the Director can issue a removal permit. Dead and declining trees have their own route.
Reasons the bylaw accepts
- The tree is hazardous: an arborist identifies in writing defects that make failure likely
- It's in the footprint of a building, structure, underground service, driveway or parking area the zoning allows, and the plan can't be changed to keep it
- Its roots are damaging sewers, drains, water lines, septic fields or power lines, confirmed in writing by an engineer, and your arborist confirms removal is the only fix
- It's dead, dying, diseased or declining beyond recovery, through the City's Dead Tree Removal stream
Not reasons on their own
- Shade, leaves, needles or cones
- Blocked views
- Wanting to landscape differently
- Damage to a house, wall or driveway, unless the tree is also hazardous or in the way of permitted construction
Bylaw 7799, s.5.3(a) and s.5.4; Tree Permitting Application Guides (2025). The City Arborist also weighs the tree's health, its importance to the neighbourhood and how close it is to structures. The City can refuse a permit that would breach a covenant on title.
How to get a tree permit in New Westminster
Applications go through the City's E-Apply portal with a MyCity account. Pick the stream that matches your project.
| Stream | For | What to gather |
|---|---|---|
| Small Projects | Additions, accessory buildings, renovations, oil tank removal, drain tile, roofing or solar, and other small work near trees | Proof of title, site plan, letter of authorization if needed; building plans, site service plan and topographical survey if you have them |
| Hazardous Tree Removal | Removing a hazardous tree | Proof of title or recent property tax notice, photo of the tree, arborist report, letter of authorization if needed |
| Dead Tree Removal (Resident Applicant) | Removing a dead tree | Proof of title or recent property tax notice, photo of the tree, letter of authorization if needed |
| Development Projects | New houses, infill, laneway and carriage houses, and development | See the developer guide |
Apply and pay the application fee
Incomplete applications aren't reviewed. The City's development guide lists a $75 non-refundable application fee.
City review, usually 4 to 6 weeks
The City Arborist may ask for an arborist report or revisions. It's longer in busy periods.
Pay the permit fee and securities
The permit is issued once everything is paid. Amounts come from the City's fee schedule.
Post the permit and mark the trees
Paint-mark each tree to be removed and post the placard facing the street at least 24 hours before cutting, until the work is done.
Do the work within 6 months
The permit expires 6 months after it's issued and can't be transferred.
Plant the replacements
Within 6 months of the permit. Your arborist reports the planting to the City to release the security.
When New Westminster asks for an arborist report
Most removal applications need one, and the City is specific about who can write it.
- Who can write it. An ISA Certified Arborist (or BC Industry Training Authority arborist technician) who is also an ISA tree risk assessor (TRAQ) and holds a New Westminster or intermunicipal business licence, with professional liability insurance.
- When it's required. Development applications, 3 or more protected trees on site, a specimen tree, off-site trees that could be affected, laneway or carriage houses, new houses and demolitions, substantial digging or grade change near a tree, or when the City asks.
- When it can be waived. If you own and live at the property and are removing a hazardous tree or building an addition or accessory building, the City can waive it when the lot has 3 or fewer protected trees, none over 60 cm, and the work is simple. For dead, dying or hazardous trees, photos and a signed commitment letter to replant can replace it.
- How long it lasts. The City only accepts a report within 12 months of its date.
We write these reports, with a tree risk assessment where it's needed, for a fixed fee agreed before the site visit. The fee never depends on what the report concludes. Send photos to get started.
Bylaw 7799, s.2.1(c), (d) and (nn), s.5.2(i), s.5.2.1, s.5.4 and s.5.9; Arborist Report Requirements, April 2025.Replacement trees and securities
Every lot that loses a protected tree gets replacement trees, and the City holds a security until they've survived a year.
| Tree removed | Replacement trees |
|---|---|
| Hazardous tree, or a heavily diseased tree not expected to recover | 1 |
| Any other protected tree | 2 |
| Hedge | 1 per 4 m of hedge length (or part), or a new hedge of the same length |
| Cut or damaged without a permit | 5 |
What counts as a replacement
3 to 5 cm caliper (measured 15 cm up), reaching at least 5 m at maturity, from the City's 2025 climate-adapted list. No weeping, dwarf, hedge, palm or fruit varieties, and no Japanese maples. Dogwoods and magnolias need the City Arborist's approval.
Where they go
At least one on your lot. Others on the lot where they fit, at least 1 m from property lines, retaining walls and underground utilities, 2 m from overhead lines and paving, and 3 m from other trees and houses. Cash-in-lieu covers any your arborist says won't fit.
When
Within 6 months of the permit being issued, unless the City sets another date. Keep them for at least a year; if one dies, replace it within 6 months.
Security
Paid in cash or a letter of credit before the permit. 40% comes back when your arborist or landscape architect confirms the planting, and the rest after 12 months. Amounts are in the City's fee schedule.
Dead, dying or dangerous trees
A dead or dangerous protected tree still needs a permit, unless it's about to fall.
Hazardous trees
Apply through the Hazardous Tree Removal stream. An arborist must identify in writing the defects that make it likely to fail, and give pruning options and the risk that would remain. One replacement tree.
Dead trees
Apply through the Dead Tree Removal stream with a photo and proof of ownership. The City can waive the arborist report and plans if your photos show the tree is dead, dying, diseased or declining beyond recovery, and you sign a commitment letter to plant a replacement and pay a security.
About to fall
See the emergency rule above: cut only if there's no time for a permit, photograph it first, report by the next business day, and leave the wood on site until the City visits. Never climb or cut a damaged tree yourself.
Bylaw 7799, s.2.1(y), s.5.3(a)(i), s.5.4, s.5.6 and s.7.2; Hazardous Tree and Dead Tree Removal guides (2025).Neighbour trees, shared trees and the 4 m rule
Trees near the property line bring your neighbour into the picture, whoever owns them.
- Shared trees. A tree whose trunk or trunk flare crosses the line is shared. Removing it needs a letter of consent from the neighbouring owners with their contact details.
- The 4 m rule. No digging, building, demolition, fill or engineering work within 4 m of a protected tree's drip line, including a neighbour's, until a barrier is up and the City has approved the work.
- Barriers for a neighbour's tree. With their consent, the barrier goes around the tree's critical root zone on their side. Without it, the barrier goes to your property line.
- Pruning. Proper pruning doesn't need a permit, but the bylaw doesn't say who may prune a neighbour's tree. Talk to them first.
Boulevard and City trees
The tree on the boulevard in front of your house belongs to the City, and it's protected at any size.
- Nobody may cut, remove, prune or damage a tree or shrub on City land or a boulevard, or attach a sign or anything else to it.
- Building next door to one? It needs a barrier: see-through fencing at least 0.6 m from the curb and 0.3 m from the sidewalk, leaving the sidewalk, hydrants and driveways clear.
- Worried about a boulevard tree, or planning work near one? Call the City first: 604-636-4318.
Stratas, rental buildings and property managers
The same rules apply. Who counts as the owner, and who can apply, is what changes.
- Who the owner is. A strata lot owner for trees within their strata lot, and the strata corporation for trees on common property.
- Applying for someone else. Property managers and stratified properties need a letter of authorization naming who can deal with the City, and the bylaw asks for every owner's written consent if the applicant isn't the owner.
- No owner-occupier shortcuts. The arborist report and barrier inspection waivers are only for an owner who lives at the property.
Fines for cutting a tree without a permit
$1,000 to $10,000
per offence on conviction
- Each tree cut, removed or damaged is a separate offence, and a continuing offence counts each day.
- You must plant 5 replacement trees for each tree, under a plan from an arborist or landscape architect, within 30 days of the City's notice, or pay cash-in-lieu.
- The City can issue a stop work order, revoke a permit, and plant the trees itself at your cost.
- The cut tree's trunk, limbs and roots must stay on the lot until the City Arborist has investigated.
Not sure where your tree stands?
Run the permit checker, or send us photos and we'll tell you what New Westminster's rules mean for your tree. If you need an arborist report, we'll quote a fixed fee.
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