Tree permits and the tree bylaw in Langford

The City of Langford controls tree cutting through Tree Protection Bylaw No. 2269. The City's Tree Removal page and its Tree Protection Bylaw FAQs both name that number. The Bylaws Directory lists a Tree Protection Bylaw that links to the No. 2269 PDF.

The bylaw says it may be cited as City of Langford Tree Protection Bylaw No. 2269, 2026. It was read a first, second and third time on June 29, 2026, and adopted on July 20, 2026. It says it applies to protected trees on any property in Langford.

According to the Tree Removal page, the bylaw sets policies for tree cutting permits and rules for replacement planting. It also covers protecting trees on or next to construction sites.

Section 14 of Bylaw No. 2269 repeals Bylaw No. 2206, the Bylaw to Prohibit the Cutting of Trees. The City's Tree Removal page still says Bylaw No. 2206 protects trees in all areas of Langford.

Section 2 of the bylaw defines a protected tree. It is a self-supporting, perennial, woody plant with a trunk or stem and a root system that meets any one of these tests.

Schedule A of the bylaw shows how to measure DBH. On flat ground, measure 1.4 metres above grade. On a slope, measure 1.4 metres above grade on the uphill side of the stem. For a multi-stemmed tree, DBH is the sum of the diameters of the three largest stems.

Schedule A also covers leaning trees, forks and swellings. Where a branch or fork is 1.4 to 1.6 metres above grade, measure 30 centimetres below the fork. Where a swelling, crack or irregularity is at 1.4 metres, measure 30 centimetres above it.

The City's FAQs give a shorter list. It leaves out trees of any size in the Environmental Development Permit Area. It adds trees planted as a requirement of a Tree Cutting Permit, which the bylaw's definition does not list.

• Its diameter at breast height (DBH) is 20 centimetres or more.
• It was planted as a requirement of a Development Permit.
• It is on land the City owns or occupies.
• It is a tree of any size in an area designated within the Environmental Development Permit Area classification.
• It is protected by a restrictive covenant in favour of the City. A restrictive covenant is a legal agreement, registered on the land title, that limits how the land is used.
• It shows evidence of nesting or use by raptors as defined in the provincial Wildlife Act, by an osprey, or by a heron colony.

To remove a protected tree on your property outside a proposed development, the City asks you to fill in its Tree Permit Application Form. The form is linked from the City's Tree Removal page.

On the form, you describe each tree: where it is, its species and its DBH. You also say whether it will be cut or removed and why, and this must match the arborist report.

The Tree Removal page says that in most cases the City will require a report from a certified arborist before it issues a Tree Cutting Permit. It may waive that report if you can show the tree is dying, dead or otherwise hazardous.

Under the bylaw, an arborist report must be prepared by an Arborist. The bylaw defines that as someone certified by, and in good standing with, the ISA who also holds a current TRAQ.

The bylaw lets the City's Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities ask for an arborist report or other information about the work. The form lists these documents to send with it to the City's Parks Department.

• An arborist report
• One copy of a site plan, map or aerial image showing where the trees are
• A tree replacement plan. Section 8.1 of the bylaw says every Tree Permit applicant must provide one that the Director accepts.
• A letter of approval from the authorizing agent, if the tree has shared ownership or is on strata property

Under section 6.1 of the bylaw, the Director, in their sole discretion, may issue a Tree Permit if satisfied that at least one of these applies. The list is shortened here.

A Tree Permit is valid for one year from the date it is issued.

• The tree is dead, or more than 50% of its crown is dead.
• It is a Hazardous Tree, and the risk cannot be reduced other than by cutting or removal. That means an Arborist rates it as a high or extreme TRAQ risk, or as having an imminent likelihood of failure.
• It is in the Interface Fire Hazard Areas Development Permit Area, and removal would be consistent with that area's landscaping requirements.
• It is causing significant damage to an existing building or utility service, and the building or service cannot be modified or moved to avoid removing the tree.
• It is in the lot's building envelope, and removal is needed to build a principal building, an addition to one, or an accessory building.
• It will be critically affected by a new principal building or addition, a utility service, a driveway or required off-street parking. The work also cannot be modified or moved to avoid it.
• It is in a required construction access that cannot be modified to avoid it.
• It is causing, or in the Director's sole discretion can be expected to cause, undue hardship.

Section 6.3 of the bylaw lets the Director ask for a report from a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP). One case is to confirm that a tree poses a fire risk that can only be reduced by cutting or removing it.

Another case is where the Director considers that the work could cause slope destabilization, landslip, flooding or erosion. The same applies to harm to neighbouring properties, to watercourses or fish or wildlife habitat, or a risk of injury or property damage. The report must address those risks and how they can be minimized.

The Director may also have an Arborist or QEP independently review the documents you submit. If that review does not support issuing a permit, the owner pays the City for it.

Section 4 of the bylaw lists cases where it does not apply. The City's FAQs repeat the same list.

• Work under certain provincial laws, such as the Railway Safety Act and the Workers Compensation Act, or under section 50 of the Community Charter
• Work by City employees or their agents while doing their jobs
• Work by British Columbia land surveyors while doing their jobs
• Work by a public utility on land it owns or holds, for the safety, maintenance or operation of its infrastructure
• Cutting or removal in accordance with a Development Permit issued by the City
• Cutting or removal of a regulated invasive plant, or an unregulated invasive plant of concern, as declared by the Province or the Invasive Species Council of BC

Section 5 of the bylaw covers emergencies. You may cut or remove a protected tree before applying for a permit in one case. The tree must be in imminent danger of falling and injuring people or property, with no time to get a permit first.

You must then apply for a Tree Permit on the next business day. You must also give the Director a photograph or video showing the tree before it was cut.

Until the Director decides whether the emergency removal was justified, you must not remove the parts of the trunk, limbs, roots or other remains needed to confirm the danger.

If the City decides the tree was not in imminent danger, or that the danger was not due to natural causes, it may impose a penalty under section 12.

Langford requires replacement trees when protected trees are removed. The City's Tree Removal page says this helps sustain the urban forest, meaning all the trees growing across Langford.

Under section 8 of the bylaw, each tree the Director allows to be removed outside an Environmentally Sensitive Development Permit Area is replaced by DBH, as in Table 1.

Inside an Environmentally Sensitive or Riparian Development Permit Area, Table 2 applies instead. It sets ratios of 1:2 up to 304 millimetres DBH, 1:3 from 305 to 456, and 1:4 from 457 to 914.

Under Table 2, a tree over 915 millimetres needs a biologist replanting plan. Removing the top of a tree, at most one third of its height, needs 1 replacement tree.

Replacement trees must be planted in an approved location within 1 year of the date the permit was issued. If the Director approves an arborist report showing the lot cannot fit them, the owner pays $400 in lieu of each tree not planted.

• A tree with a DBH of up to 30 centimetres needs 1 replacement tree.
• A tree over 30 and up to 60 centimetres needs 2 replacement trees.
• A tree over 60 and up to 90 centimetres needs 3 replacement trees.
• A tree over 90 centimetres needs a biologist replanting plan.

Where replacement trees are a condition of a Tree Permit, section 9 of the bylaw sets the security at $400 for each replacement tree, paid by cash, cheque or debit. The City's FAQs call it a refundable security deposit. The bylaw releases it in two steps.

If the release requirements are not met within one year of the date the permit was issued, the City may move any remaining security to its Tree Reserve. The City's Tree Removal page and FAQs describe the timing more simply, and this page follows the bylaw.

• Half is released after the Director approves the planting. The FAQs say to contact the Parks Department after planting to book an inspection.
• The balance is released one year after that first release, if the Director, in their sole discretion, decides the replacement tree has been kept in good health.

The Tree Permit Application Form includes a Tree Replacement Plan. On it you mark north, the buildings and structures, the trees removed and the trees to be planted.

Section 8.6 of the bylaw sets minimum sizes at planting. Caliper diameter means the width of the main stem of a young tree, measured 15 centimetres above the root ball. The form adds the placement rules below.

• A deciduous tree must have a caliper diameter of at least 5 centimetres.
• A coniferous or evergreen tree must be at least 2 metres tall.
• It must be at least 1 metre from any site boundary, accessory building or other structure that may harm it.
• It must be at least 1.5 metres from the main building.
• It must be at least 2 metres from any other tree on or next to the site.
• It must not be a dwarf or miniature species, or a species usually used for hedges.

The Tree Removal page says that to remove a tree or other vegetation as part of a proposed development, you must first get a Development Permit. Section 4 of the bylaw says it does not apply to cutting or removal in accordance with a Development Permit issued by the City.

Section 10 of the bylaw covers construction. Where excavation, demolition, construction or engineering works are within 5 metres of the trunk of a protected tree, a Tree Protection Barrier must be installed around it. The same applies where the work may directly harm the tree.

The barrier must follow Schedule B of the bylaw and stay in place until the Director approves its removal. It may be moved for a time only with an approved arborist report and an Arborist on site supervising the work.

Development Permit Areas are set out in Langford's Official Community Plan. Before anyone removes a tree or natural vegetation, the City strongly encourages property owners to contact its Parks Department. The aim is to find out whether part of the property is in a Development Permit Area, and how the bylaw may apply.

Parks staff also offer one-on-one meetings in person at City Hall. The Tree Removal page gives these examples of Development Permit Areas.

• Steep slopes
• Sensitive ecosystems
• Areas around lakes and streams
• Areas of high or extreme interface fire hazard, where buildings meet forest or brush

The City's Parks Department is responsible for authorizing the removal of any tree on public property, including trees in parks and on boulevards. If you want to remove a tree in front of your property and are not sure it is inside your property line, the City says to contact the Parks Department.

Langford City Hall is on the 2nd Floor, 877 Goldstream Avenue, Langford, BC V9B 2X8. It is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, and closed on statutory holidays. You can also start from the City's Tree Removal page, linked above.

A City news release from December 2022 described interim Bylaw 2115 as a temporary measure to prevent the unnecessary cutting and removal of trees. It had a six-month sunset clause, meaning it was written to expire after six months.

That interim bylaw covered trees with a trunk diameter greater than 20 centimetres, measured 1.4 metres above the undisturbed ground. Bylaw No. 2269 covers trees with a DBH of 20 centimetres or more, measured as shown in its Schedule A.

A City release dated November 20, 2024 says Council gave a Tree Protection Bylaw first, second and third readings at its November 18 meeting. It says that bylaw was intended to replace the interim bylaw, but gives no bylaw number or adoption date.

The current bylaw, No. 2269, records its first, second and third readings on June 29, 2026 and its adoption on July 20, 2026. It repeals Bylaw No. 2206, the Bylaw to Prohibit the Cutting of Trees.

Oakstead Tree & Property Care is an independent arborist consulting business. We write arborist reports for tree permit applications and tree protection plans for building projects. If a tree near your project may have hidden decay, resistograph mapping can help us check it. Hands-on tree work goes to local partners.