Colwood tree permits and the Urban Forest Bylaw

Colwood's tree rules are in the Urban Forest Bylaw, Bylaw No. 1735. The City lists it with its environmental bylaws. In 2018, council adopted an interim Urban Forest Bylaw to protect trees on private and public property.

The City says the bylaw aims to keep trees on private and public land and to help grow the urban forest, meaning all the trees across Colwood. The City also says its urban forest is shrinking every year, and that much of the loss is on private land.

The consolidated bylaw on the City's website includes amendments to June 23, 2025. It lists two amending bylaws: Bylaw No. 1735-01, adopted July 15, 2020, and Bylaw No. 1735-03, adopted June 23, 2025.

The bylaw defines a protected tree as any of the trees listed below. The City's Tree Permits page lists the same species and sizes.

For the first group, a tree counts if it meets either the height or the diameter. That diameter is measured 15 centimetres above natural ground level. Under that wording, a young Garry oak or arbutus can already be protected.

For the other groups, the bylaw uses DBH, short for diameter at breast height. The bylaw defines DBH as the diameter of the trunk 1.4 metres above the base of the tree.

• Arbutus, Garry oak, Pacific dogwood and Pacific yew that are 2 metres or taller, or 4 centimetres or more in diameter measured 15 centimetres above natural ground level
• Douglas fir, grand fir, big leaf maple and western red cedar with a DBH of 30 centimetres or more
• Any tree with a DBH of 60 centimetres or more
• A tree marked to be kept on a tree protection plan
• A replacement tree shown on a tree replacement plan
• A wildlife tree

You need a Tree Management Permit to remove a protected tree. Before you cut or remove any tree, on public or private property, the City asks you to contact it first.

The City's home page links to its Tree Permits page and its Urban Forest Strategy.

If your concern is a City-owned tree in a park or on a boulevard, the City asks you to use its online Action Request Form or call Colwood Public Works.

The cases below come from the City's Tree Permits page and the bylaw. The bylaw lists other exemptions too, so ask the City about any case not shown here.

The bylaw sets conditions for cutting in an emergency. The tree must be in danger of falling and injuring people or property due to natural causes. It must also not be possible to get a permit before the tree falls.

You must report the cutting to the City by the next business day, with photographs of the tree taken before it was cut. The tree must stay on the lot until City staff have visited and confirmed it was in danger of falling.

The tree must be replaced under the bylaw's replacement rules. If the City's Director under the bylaw decides the tree was not in danger of falling due to natural causes, the owner may be liable for breaking the bylaw.

The pruning exemption has limits. It does not cover topping, which means cutting off the top of a tree. Removing more than 25% of the crown (the branches and leaves) in one season is also outside the exemption.

So is removing lower limbs until the live crown ratio is under 50%. Live crown ratio is the share of the tree's height that carries live branches. Pruning or removing a structural root (a large root that anchors the tree) inside the critical root zone is not covered either. Ask an arborist or the City how that zone applies to your tree.

• Cutting a tree in an emergency to protect public safety or private property, under the conditions described below
• An owner removing or pruning a hedge on their own lot. The bylaw defines a hedge as five or more trees or shrubs less than 5 metres high and planted less than 1.25 metres apart.
• Pruning that follows sound arboricultural practice, meaning accepted professional tree care methods

The bylaw sets the number of replacement trees by how many protected trees are cut or removed in a calendar year. For one to five per calendar year, the ratio is 1:1, or one new tree for each tree removed. For more than five per calendar year, it is 2:1, or two new trees for each one removed.

If your application does not need a tree management plan, replacement trees must be at least 1.5 metres tall. They must also be a native species found in the Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem, planted as shown on the approved site plan. Despite those requirements, the bylaw says replacement trees may instead be of a species the Director approves, planted in a location the Director is satisfied with.

If your application has a tree management plan, the size, species and location of replacement trees follow that plan. The Tree Permits page lists tree species native to the Coastal Douglas Fir Zone.

The bylaw's Schedule A sets a security deposit of $750 for each replacement tree, and the Tree Permits page lists the same amount. Under the bylaw, the deposit is not released when the trees are planted. It is released only after the replacement trees have been maintained for at least 12 months.

If your application has a tree management plan, your qualified person, such as an arborist, must fill in a form set by the Director. On it, they certify that the replacement trees have been "planned and maintained" (the bylaw's wording) for 12 months. The deposit is then released. If the approved tree replacement plan recommends a longer period, that longer period applies.

If your replacement trees are shown on a site plan, you must confirm that they have been planted and maintained for at least 12 months, as the bylaw requires. You must also send recent photographs of the replacement trees. The deposit is released once all of this is to the Director's satisfaction.

The bylaw says the deposit is forfeited if this confirmation is not given within two years of the permit being issued. A longer period applies if the approved tree replacement plan recommends one. The City then uses the money as cash in lieu to buy, plant or care for trees in City parks and boulevards.

The Tree Permits page words this more briefly. It says the deposit is reimbursed in full with confirmation that the replacement tree has been planted and survived for at least one year. Where the two differ, this page gives the bylaw wording.

Replacement trees are planted on the same lot as the trees removed. If they cannot be planted there, the Tree Permits page says $750 cash in lieu, a payment instead of planting, is required for each replacement tree.

Under the bylaw, cash in lieu applies when the Director finds the lot cannot hold the replacement trees, or when the owner chooses to pay it. The bylaw says the City uses this money only to buy, plant or care for trees in City parks and boulevards.

The Tree Permits page lists an application fee of $100 for a Tree Management Permit. The bylaw's Schedule A sets the same fee and says it is non-refundable.

What you send depends on how many protected trees you plan to remove in a calendar year. Under the bylaw, for one to five protected trees per calendar year, you can send a site plan instead of a tree management plan. For more than five, you need a tree management plan prepared by a qualified person, such as an arborist.

The City's application page matches this. It asks for a Tree Site Plan if removing 5 or less trees, or a Tree Management Plan if removing over 5 trees in one calendar year. The Tree Permits page words it more briefly, as fewer than five protected trees for a Tree Site Plan and more than five for a Tree Management Plan.

The City's Development Services Department receives completed applications. The application page lists its email address and phone number.

Tree Management Permits issued since January 1, 2025 are listed on the City's Our City portal. The Tree Permits page also has a list of earlier permits going back to March 28, 2018.

To report a tree removed without a permit, or a removal in progress, the City asks you to contact a Bylaw Enforcement Officer. The Tree Permits page lists the email address to use.

Oakstead is an arborist consulting business. We measure and assess the trees on your lot and write arborist reports, tree plans and tree protection plans for permit and building applications. An Air Spade clears soil with a jet of air, so we can check roots without cutting them. Vetted local partners do any pruning or removal. We do not issue permits or speak for the City.