Local tree-rule guide
London tree rules
Private distinctive trees 50 cm+ in urban area; any-size trees in Tree Protection Areas.
The local rule
London's Private Tree Protection By-law regulates specified private trees and protected areas rather than treating every residential tree the same way.
The City identifies a distinctive tree as a tree 50 cm or more in diameter in the circumstances described by the by-law, and permit requirements can also depend on whether land is in a Tree Protection Area.
London’s private-tree bylaw regulates “distinctive trees” with a trunk diameter of 50 cm or greater within the Urban Growth Boundary.
Trees of any size can be regulated when they are inside a designated Tree Protection Area.
The City directs owners to use the Private Tree Permit Application for a distinctive tree or dead distinctive tree, and to contact City staff for proposed work inside a Tree Protection Area.
Work in a Tree Protection Area can require an arborist or Registered Professional Forester report depending on the project.
Local exceptions and conditions
Scope and protected trees
- London's Tree Protection By-law C.P.-1555-252 defines a 'Distinctive Tree' as one at least 50 cm in trunk diameter within the Urban Growth Boundary, excluding a Tree Protection Area.
- The City's maps identify those protected areas, where a separate permit path can apply regardless of the standalone distinctive-tree test.
- A property owner should therefore look up the parcel on the bylaw maps before treating 49 cm as a universal exemption.
- The critical root zone is defined in the regulation by a radius of 10 cm for each 1 cm of trunk diameter, so a 50 cm tree can affect ground work several metres from the stem.
Applications and timing
- For an ordinary distinctive-tree application, prepare the City's private-tree permit materials and evidence of condition and proposed work.
- For a tree inside a mapped Tree Protection Area, London asks applicants to email a description to trees@london.ca; depending on the size and project, an arborist or Registered Professional Forester report is required.
- The application and staff review must precede felling or root injury.
- London does not promise one universal turnaround in that guidance, and a construction schedule should leave time for the applicable report and any amendment to the plan.
Enforcement and exceptions
- London's distinctive category is a municipal legal protection for large trees, not a named historical-specimen register.
- Unauthorized destruction or injury can draw bylaw prosecution, permit conditions and restoration; the exact fine depends on the operative offence provisions rather than a single amount in the service summary.
- An owner of a small wooded parcel may mistakenly look only at a 50 cm backyard oak while overlooking that the site lies in a mapped Tree Protection Area.
- Public boulevard trees are handled separately under the City's Boulevard Tree Protection By-law.
Mapped Tree Protection Areas
- London's map is as important as its 50 cm distinctive-tree measurement.
- The standalone category applies inside the Urban Growth Boundary outside a mapped Tree Protection Area; the area rules have their own approval path.
- A 40 cm tree on a lot inside such an area should not be waved through using the 50 cm number, while a 55 cm tree on an ordinary urban lot is itself distinctive.
- The City's critical-root-zone formula scales with trunk width, so a tree beside a new foundation can have regulated roots farther from the trunk than a rough canopy sketch suggests.
- Identify the area boundary and the tree's zone before deciding the footprint or where construction materials will sit.
Applying inside a protected area
- An applicant inside a Tree Protection Area starts by describing the property and proposal to the City's tree team, which can ask for an arborist or Registered Professional Forester report.
- Outside the mapped area, the distinctive-tree permit still needs evidence and a plan before work.
- If the removal is part of a development file, tree protection and replacement conditions may be coordinated with that review; approval of a structure does not erase the tree condition.
- London's separate Boulevard Tree Protection By-law applies to City street trees.
- A project can therefore involve both a private distinctive-tree approval and protection for the public tree across the sidewalk.
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
Last verified: September 28, 2026 · Primary municipal source reviewed September 23, 2026. Rules can change; confirm with the local authority before work. How we research
Local detail review: September 28, 2026.