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Aerial view of town overlooking trees, roads, river and buildings.

Private Tree Protection Bylaw

Guelph values its tree canopy cover and the numerous contributions trees make to the health of our community. A private tree protection bylaw is one of the tools the City uses to protect and enhance tree canopy cover, and to help build a sustainable city.

Increasing pressures on Guelph’s tree canopy cover related to urban intensification and climate change, as well as updates to related policies and regulations, have made reviewing and updating the current Private Tree Protection Bylaw a priority.

In late 2022, the City retained a multi-disciplinary consulting team to lead the research and engagement for Guelph’s Private Tree Protection Bylaw update. In 2023 we reached out to the community to hear about your thoughts about and experiences with the private tree bylaw, then looked for your input around some options we'd identified for updating the bylaw.

Your Participation made a difference!

Council approved an updated Private Tree Protection Bylaw for the City of Guelph on April 24, 2025.

Check out the final phase of the project to learn more about what the new bylaw.

Further reading

Please note: This project began in an older version of our website. Some of the tools and information may appear different than originally designed.

Phases

Phases overview
Phase 1: Issues and opportunities analysis
Issues and opportunities analysis
Phase 2: Your thoughts on the current bylaw
Your thoughts on the current bylaw
Phase 3: Identify options and key directions
Identify options and key directions
Phase 4: Big trees and little trees
Big trees and little trees
Phase 5: Under Review
Under Review
Phase 6: We're drafting the updated Private Tree Protection ByLaw
We're drafting the updated Private Tree Protection ByLaw
Phase 7: Guelph's Private Tree Protection Bylaw is finalized
Guelph's Private Tree Protection Bylaw is finalized

Big trees and little trees

April 30, 2023 4:00 AM - May 28, 2023 4:00 AM

Between April 30 and May 27, 2024, we asked the community to weigh in on whether the size of tree(s) regulated and/or the size of lot(s) captured by the bylaw should change.

How the community participated

we offered a 10-minute online survey from April 30 to May 27 and also invited people to join us at any of the following public events:

  • In-person pop-up: Saturday, May 4, drop in between 10:30 am ‒ 1:30 p.m. at Victoria Road Recreation Centre, 151 Victoria Rd N
  • Virtual information session: Wednesday, May 8, 6:30‒8 p.m. – Register for the Zoom link here
  • In-person pop-up: Saturday, May 11, 8 a.m.‒1 p.m. at the Guelph Farmer’s Market, 2 Gordon Street
  • In-person information session: Tuesday, May 14, 6:30‒8 p.m. at Guelph City Hall, Room C, 1 Carden Street