Croft Tree Experts is warning Ottawa homeowners that removing a tree without the required municipal authorization can result in fines of up to $100,000 under the City of Ottawa’s urban tree protection bylaw, a consequence that many property owners are unaware of when they arrange tree removal on their own or through contractors who do not verify permit requirements before beginning work. The company is advising homeowners to confirm the bylaw status of any tree before proceeding with removal, regardless of whether the tree is on private property, including situations involving Ottawa emergency tree removal.
Ottawa’s urban tree canopy bylaw governs the removal of trees meeting specified diameter thresholds on private residential and commercial properties within city limits. The bylaw is designed to protect the city’s urban forest, which provides environmental services including stormwater absorption, urban heat island reduction, and air quality improvement across the city’s built environment. Trees that meet the protected diameter threshold cannot be removed without a permit, and in some cases cannot be removed at all without demonstrated justification reviewed by the city’s urban forestry staff.
Violations of the bylaw are enforced through fines that reflect the ecological value and replacement cost of the removed tree and can reach $100,000 for trees of significant size or in protected categories. The fine applies to the property owner, not only to the contractor who performed the removal, meaning homeowners who hire unlicensed or uninformed contractors to remove a protected tree bear the financial consequence of the violation even if they were unaware of the permit requirement. That enforcement structure places the responsibility for bylaw compliance directly on the property owner.
“The $100,000 figure surprises most homeowners when they hear it, but it reflects how seriously the city treats the loss of established trees,” said Kyle Hewitt, Co-Founder of Croft Tree Experts. “The fine is not hypothetical – it is applied. The cost of a permit application and a professional assessment is a small fraction of the exposure that comes with removing a protected tree without authorization. We raise this issue because the consequences fall on the homeowner, not the contractor who did the work.”
Croft Tree Experts holds an ISA Certified Arborist designation and provides arborist assessments in Ottawa for residential and commercial properties, including bylaw compliance reviews as part of the pre-removal consultation process. As part of its work as an arborist service provider in Ottawa, arborists can determine whether a tree meets the protected threshold under the current bylaw, advise on permit requirements, and, where applicable, prepare documentation to support a removal application. This process ensures compliance with municipal regulations and that any required approvals are obtained before removal proceeds.
The company also provides Ottawa tree-planting services for properties where removal of a protected tree has been authorized, as the city’s bylaw typically requires replacement planting as a condition of approval of a removal permit. Replacement planting requirements vary with the size and species of the removed tree, and selecting replacement species suited to Ottawa’s climate and the property's specific site conditions is part of the post-removal obligation that Croft Tree Experts manages on behalf of clients.
Awareness of Ottawa’s tree protection bylaw has grown among homeowners in recent years, driven in part by high-profile enforcement actions and by increased coverage in local media of bylaw-related disputes between property owners and the city. Despite increased awareness, unlicensed tree removal on private property continues to occur, often because homeowners rely on the advice of contractors who are not familiar with municipal bylaw requirements or who do not proactively disclose those requirements before quoting a removal job.
About Croft Tree Experts: Croft Tree Experts is an Ottawa-based company providing ISA Certified Arborist tree care services to residential and commercial clients across Ottawa and the Valley. Founded by David Koshurba and Kyle Hewitt, the company provides tree assessment, removal, pruning, planting, hedge trimming, and bylaw compliance consultation, with a focus on delivering certified expertise at competitive pricing across the Ottawa region.
###
For more information about Croft Tree Experts, contact the company here:
Croft Tree Experts
Kyle Hewitt
613-883-5611
CroftTreeExperts@gmail.com
208 Royalton Private, Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 9S3, Canada