Surrey tree rules

What Surrey asks for before it issues a tree permit

• Surrey's current residential process is unusually explicit about the documents, fees and post-approval steps.
• A protected-tree application is more than a request to cut: the City expects ownership evidence, photos, a location plan and replacement security.

• Surrey says replacement trees are required for removals from private property and notes that a removal can require two replacement trees.
• The actual number on a file is the number imposed by the permit, so the approval letter—not a generic ratio—should control the planting plan.

Scope and protected trees

• Surrey's Tree Protection Bylaw 16100 defines a protected tree at 30 cm DBH, including a multi-stem tree measured by adding its three largest stems.
• The definition also includes replacement and development-retained trees, riparian trees, exceptional specimen trees, designated significant trees, trees used by listed nesting birds, and any tree on City land.
• Arbutus, Garry oak, coast, dawn and giant redwoods, and ginkgo enter a species-specific class at 3 m tall for conifers or 5 cm caliper for deciduous trees.
• Thus a smaller tree can still need a cutting permit, but the ordinary 30 cm threshold does not mean every little backyard sapling needs one.
• Schedule B and B1 significant trees have a stronger rule: bylaw amendment is needed before removal, and even pruning needs a permit.

Applications and timing

• For a residential application, the registered owner signs the cutting form; a boundary tree needs both owners' signatures and a strata can provide manager authorization.
• Send at least three clear colour photos and a COSMOS tree-location printout or sketch.
• An arborist report is required for five or more trees or when the City asks for one.
• Surrey reviews files in receipt order, prioritizing safety hazards, and sends an approval or denial before payment and permit issuance; no fixed all-case turnaround is promised.
• The issued permit must be posted visibly and is valid for one year.
• Replacement planting and a security deposit can follow approval, with two inspections for deposit release.
• An imminent falling hazard has a narrow bylaw exception requiring next-business-day reporting and no removal of the cut tree before City inspection.

Enforcement and exceptions

• The City's removal page warns of fines up to $20,000 for damaging or removing a regulated tree without a permit; replacement obligations are separate.
• By-law 16100, sections 22–23, treats a listed significant tree more strictly than the usual 30 cm tree, and section 25 governs the cutting-permit application.
• A strata courtyard tree planted as a development condition may be protected below 30 cm.
• Check the actual bylaw category and permit conditions before relying on diameter alone.

Agricultural sites

• Surrey also separates agricultural cutting from a residential permit.
• A parcel's Agricultural Land Reserve or farming use does not automatically turn its trees into unregulated lawn trees: the City publishes a separate agricultural permit route.
• A resident making a garden change should not submit the farm form, and a farmer clearing a field should not use the residential replacement assumption.
• The zoning and environmental area should be identified before the tree inventory is filed.

Permit fees and replacement security

• Surrey's permit steps also matter after staff say yes.
• Its current residential page lists a permit charge made up of a base fee and a per-tree amount, and a separate deposit for each required replacement.
• The replacement security is released in stages after inspections, including a check after the first year.
• The application itself has no fee, so paying a contractor or starting an application does not mean a permit has been issued.
• The City says the permit lasts one year, and a printed copy must be posted where the street can see it during the work.
• A strata manager's authorization and both signatures on a boundary-tree application should be assembled before those steps.

Bird nests and significant trees

• The City may request a bird-nest survey when seasonal clearing could affect active nests.
• This is a separate wildlife check and should be done when staff direct it, because a survey is time sensitive.
• Surrey's bylaw also treats a Schedule B significant tree as a listed specimen, not simply a very large diameter.
• Its rules on exceptional specimen quality and trees retained by development approval explain why the survey should list every tree, even one below 30 cm.