Local tree-rule guide
Burnaby: 30 cm conifers, 45 cm deciduous
Protected private trees under Burnaby Tree Bylaw; development rules are stricter.
The local rule
On non-development properties, Burnaby protects conifers 30 cm+ and deciduous trees 45 cm+. On development properties, trees 20 cm+ are protected.
Replacement requirements scale with the size of the removed tree: 1, 2 or 3 replacement trees across the published size bands.
The City publishes examples of reasons that can support removal—such as poor health, structural unsoundness, serious property damage or development conflict—and examples that normally do not, such as shade or leaf drop.
Tree protection and replacement are integrated into development review; a separate tree permit may be generated through that process.
Application details
What Burnaby currently charges and asks for
- Burnaby's current program changes with both tree type and project status.
- The City publishes a 2026 fee schedule, a private-tree application and a size-based replacement system, so owners can budget the permit before scheduling a crew.
$97 per protected tree removed, to a maximum tree-cutting fee of $691 for the application.
On a residential lot with a development application pending, the 2026 tree-cutting fee is $207 per protected tree, with a $1,380 maximum. Larger non-residential development sites use separate base-fee bands.
Burnaby currently requires 1 replacement for a removed tree from 20.3–30.5 cm, 2 replacements from 30.5–61 cm, and 3 replacements for a tree 61 cm or larger, subject to the bylaw's property-specific exceptions.
When replacement is required, security is due before permit issuance. Burnaby's 2026 fee schedule lists a $1,500 minimum replacement security and $1,500 per tree for a Civic Tree Reserve Fund payment; the City's replacement page also says the security calculation can be based on 120% of replacement-tree cost.
One Tree Cutting Permit application can cover multiple private-property trees. The form asks for the tree location, description and reason for removal; an agent must have the owner's authorization. City staff may visit the property, and an approved permit must be paid for and issued before removal.
Burnaby lists poor health, structural unsoundness, serious property damage, utility conflict and development/servicing conflict among reasons that can support removal. Shade, leaf drop, views and a desire for different landscaping normally do not.
Local exceptions and conditions
Scope and protected trees
- Burnaby's Tree Bylaw 10482 does not use one private-tree threshold for every lot.
- On property subject to a development application, a tree 20 cm or greater is protected.
- Without a development application, the City's public guidance identifies conifers at 30 cm or more and deciduous trees at 45 cm or more.
- A tree retained or planted under a section 219 covenant is protected by that covenant as well.
- Burnaby measures multi-stemmed trees under the bylaw definition rather than pretending every stem is a separate tree.
- A 35 cm maple can therefore have a different treatment on a redevelopment lot than on an ordinary existing lot.
Applications and timing
- The applicant should first identify whether a rezoning, subdivision, building or demolition file makes the parcel a development site.
- Burnaby has separate permit bulletins for tree cutting with development and a decision guide for ordinary private-property tree removal.
- Its staff consider tree condition and the approved site design; merely submitting a tree-cutting request does not authorize work.
- An arborist assessment, tree inventory, protection barriers and replacement conditions may form part of the file.
- The City does not publish one dependable processing-day guarantee for both routes on the linked overview, so coordinate the tree review with the development schedule.
Enforcement and exceptions
- Bylaw 10482 regulates unpermitted cutting and damage, and its offences and penalties should be read in the current consolidation rather than assumed from a contractor quote.
- The covenant category is Burnaby's clearly identified individually protected-tree provision.
- No separate universal 'heritage' DBH is needed to explain a covenanted tree's protection.
Development changes the threshold
- Burnaby's two sets of private thresholds make project status a fact worth documenting.
- The City's ordinary non-development guidance uses 30 cm for conifers and 45 cm for deciduous trees, whereas a parcel under development uses 20 cm.
- A property owner replacing a house should use the development route even if the tree would have been below the ordinary cutoff a year earlier.
- An application to demolish, subdivide or build can change the relevant inventory and protection plan.
- A 28 cm cedar near a construction access, for instance, is not automatically exempt just because it would be below the 30 cm non-development conifer measure.
Covenants and retained trees
- The City also recognizes trees protected by a registered section 219 covenant or required by an earlier development approval.
- That status follows the property paperwork, not the owner's memory of who planted the tree.
- Review the title and approved landscape drawings with the tree survey before a contractor clears the lot.
- Burnaby's permit material separates removal from injury to retained trees, so grading, root cuts and temporary equipment storage should be shown in the arborist plan.
- A tree retained under a covenant can remain protected even if its diameter seems smaller than the ordinary threshold.
- Ask staff which tree-cutting bulletin applies to the exact file and wait for the written decision before scheduling a combined demolition and clearing crew.
Before work starts
- Ownership: check the property line. Public and boundary trees may follow a different process.
- Site context: review any development approval, covenant or protected-area conditions.
- Work requirements: confirm any permit, exemption or protection requirements that apply to the planned work.
Official sources
Primary municipal source rechecked October 1, 2026. Rules can change; confirm with the local authority before work. How we research
Local detail review: October 1, 2026.