Saanich Tree Protection Bylaw and Tree Cutting Permits

Saanich's Tree Protection Bylaw regulates the cutting, removal or damaging of trees. It also sets requirements for replacing protected trees.

The District's bylaws and policies index describes it as the bylaw that regulates activities around trees defined as protected in Saanich. You can open the full bylaw from the official links on this page.

The consolidated copy of the bylaw on Saanich's website notes that it includes six amending bylaws: Nos. 9467, 9548, 9781, 9915, 10135 and 10193.

Saanich protects trees for different reasons, such as their species, their size or where they grow. Its tree protection page lists the protected trees and calls the list a rough guide. The list below follows the bylaw's definition of a protected tree, with notes from that page. Confirm the status of a specific tree with Saanich.

• Arbutus, Garry Oak, Pacific Dogwood and Pacific Yew are protected when they are at least 2 metres tall or 4 centimetres in diameter. The bylaw measures this diameter 15 centimetres above natural grade (the natural ground level).
• Douglas Fir, Grand Fir, Big Leaf Maple and Western Red Cedar are protected when their diameter at breast height (DBH) is 30 centimetres or more. DBH is measured 1.4 metres above the highest point of natural grade.
• Any other tree is protected when its DBH is 60 centimetres or more. For a tree with several stems, the bylaw measures the three largest stems at 1.4 metres and adds them together. For example, three 25 centimetre stems give a DBH of 75 centimetres.
• Any tree in the Streamside Development Permit Area, which is set out in Saanich's Official Community Plan, is protected. The bylaw sets no minimum size for these trees. Saanich's tree protection page gives a rougher guide: any tree over 10 centimetres in diameter or 5 metres tall in a Streamside Permit Area.
• Any replacement tree is protected, and so is any tree planted or kept as a condition of a subdivision application, development permit or other permit.
• Significant Trees listed in the bylaw are protected, and the bylaw does not allow them to be cut down or removed. Any tree growing on property Saanich owns is also protected.
• Any tree with evidence of a nest used by raptors, ospreys or a heron colony is protected. The bylaw uses the meaning of raptors in British Columbia's Wildlife Act.
• A tree can also be protected by a Tree or Natural State Covenant registered on the land title. A covenant is a legal agreement attached to the property.

When a tree is deemed significant, a brass identification tag is attached to its trunk where it is easy to see. Saanich's Significant Tree Program page links a PDF list of these trees.

The bylaw says no person shall alter, cut, damage or remove a Significant Tree. Anyone convicted of doing so faces a fine of at least $5,000.

Pruning the branches or roots of a Significant Tree needs a Tree Cutting Permit first. There is no fee for this permit. All pruning of a Significant Tree must be supervised by an arborist.

The program page says a tree can be significant for any of these reasons:

• It is an outstanding specimen.
• It is a rare species.
• It has historical significance.
• It is part of a significant row or grove.
• It is a landmark.
• It provides wildlife habitat.

To alter, cut, damage or remove a protected tree in Saanich, you must first apply for and receive a Tree Cutting Permit.

This includes protected trees that are dead or dying. Saanich's Trees and Storms page says a tree permit may be needed to remove or significantly prune a tree, even if it fell.

The bylaw lets Saanich issue these permits only in the situations it lists, such as a tree that is hazardous or dead. Significant Trees are left out. For a Significant Tree, a permit can only allow pruning.

The bylaw has an emergency rule. It covers a protected tree in imminent danger of falling and injuring people or property due to natural causes, when a permit cannot be obtained before the tree falls. Then the owner may cut the tree or have it cut. The owner must report the cutting to Saanich's Director of Parks and Recreation within the next business day. The owner must not remove the tree from the lot until Saanich has visited and confirmed that the tree was in imminent danger. If Saanich finds the tree was not in imminent danger, or that the danger was not due to natural causes, Saanich may impose a penalty.

Part 2 of the bylaw says the bylaw does not apply to some trees. These include trees altered, cut, damaged or removed under the Hydro and Power Authority Act or the Pipeline Act. They also include trees on Saanich property, rights-of-way or highways worked on by Saanich under approved Saanich operations. The same applies to Capital Regional District regional parks and approved CRD operations.

The bylaw also does not apply to trees on federal or provincial land that are cut or removed by that government. The same goes for trees on Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land that are altered, damaged, cut or removed for agricultural use. Trees described in section 50(1) of the Community Charter are also exempt. Ask Saanich whether an exemption applies.

The bylaw also has a steep slope rule. The plans in Schedule A of the bylaw show steep slope areas. On that land, you need a Tree Cutting Permit to cut down more than 2 trees in one calendar year. This rule does not allow cutting any tree that this or any other bylaw protects from removal, so a protected tree on a steep slope still needs a permit.

For this rule, a tree means any living, upright, woody plant that is 5 metres or more tall, or 10 centimetres or more in diameter at breast height.

If a storm brings down a tree on your property, check with Saanich before you clear it.

Saanich says you generally do not need a permit for basic pruning of a protected tree, as long as the pruning follows sound arboriculture practices (accepted tree care methods).

You cannot prune a tree on land Saanich owns. That includes trees on boulevards and in parks.

According to the Tree Cutting Permit page, you do need a permit for:

• Pruning a Significant Tree
• Pruning a tree protected by a covenant
• Pruning a tree's root system
• Pruning that meets the bylaw's definition of altering a protected tree

If removing or altering a tree is part of a development application, you do not apply for a tree permit separately. Saanich Parks is informed through the development process.

Saanich's Trees and Development page says a permit is needed to remove, alter or work within the root zone of protected trees. The root zone is the soil where a tree's roots grow. For development sites, that page says a development permit is required first.

The bylaw also covers projects where no rezoning or development permit is required. There, you apply to Saanich's Director of Parks and Recreation for a Tree Cutting Permit, with the fees and deposit the bylaw sets.

For example, a permit may be issued to remove a protected tree growing inside the building footprint, when removal is needed to build a building that has a building permit.

Protected trees and future tree planting sites need fencing around their zones. Saanich has printable tree protection signs you can put on that fencing.

Saanich requires an arborist report when development activities happen in or near trees. Every arborist report must be in writing and contain the information set out in Saanich's General Arborist Report Guidelines.

The arborist's recommendations and methods must be consistent with International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) best management practices, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards, or both.

For a tree cutting permit, Saanich's permit page advises hiring an arborist for a detailed assessment of your tree. The bylaw also says Saanich may require a tree survey, an arborist report or both with a permit application.

Some permit reasons in the bylaw involve an arborist report. If you say a tree is hazardous or dead and its condition is not clear from Saanich's visual assessment, you may be required to provide one. To get a permit because a tree's size and species make it inappropriate for its location, you must submit an arborist report that documents this.

A June 10, 2026 update on Saanich's Tree Protection Bylaw page says staff are still drafting changes to the tree bylaw. Drafting, testing and legal review will continue through fall 2026.

Saanich also amended the bylaw in 2020. Its January 9, 2020 news release said the amendments would take effect February 5, 2020, and that Saanich had introduced deposits for tree removals not related to development. That release is several years old, so ask Saanich about the current deposit rules.

Oakstead is an arborist consulting business. Before you apply, we can check which trees on your lot may be protected and whether a Significant Tree is involved. We write arborist reports and tree protection plans and help you prepare the application. Resistograph mapping can show hidden decay in a tree you are worried about. We refer hands-on tree work to local partners.