Does Niagara Falls need a permit to remove a tree on a private lot?

The City's trees page says no one can remove or damage a tree on public property and points to the City's tree by-law, By-law 2004-173 as amended, which regulates trees on municipal property; it says a tree with less than half of it on the road allowance is private and that the City does not remove or trim private trees. For trees on private land, Niagara Region's Woodland Conservation By-law 2020-79 makes it an offence to injure or destroy a tree in a woodland without a permit or an exemption. The by-law defines a woodland by the number of trees per hectare, applies to every woodland of one hectare or more, and the Region's page lists Niagara Falls among the municipalities that have delegated woodlands under one hectare to the Region.

The Region's page says a woodland can cover several neighbouring lots and lists exemptions such as trees removed to build under a building permit. The City's page adds that a tree whose base grows on the boundary between two lots is the common property of both owners, and that section 10 of the Forestry Act makes it an offence to injure or destroy one without the owners' consent. A rule summary says what the by-laws cover; it doesn't say whether a given lot is part of a woodland or who owns a tree near a lot line.

• Trees and Forestry: the City's page on City trees, private trees and boundary trees
• Tree By-law 2004-173: the consolidated by-law for trees on municipal property (PDF)
• Forestry and tree cutting: the Region's page on its Woodland Conservation By-law, permits and the municipalities that delegated small woodlands
• Woodland Conservation By-law 2020-79: the Region's by-law as amended by By-law 2025-24 (PDF)

Tree and ravine limits is in the free check as a summary of the City's rule, from our hand-kept table, with a link to the City's page. It is a rule for the city, not a survey of the trees on a lot.

Free check: pick “Tree and ravine limits” See the sample report