Edmonton Needs a private tree bylaw

Update on ERVCC’s Efforts to Advance a Private Tree Bylaw

After years of ERVCC advocacy, in the fall of 2025, Mayor Andrew Knack brought forward a motion directing City Administration to report on ways to better support the maintenance and retention of trees on private property. That report was presented to the Urban Planning Committee on February 9th and 10th, 2026, with a referral to the mayor and all of council for discussion on February 17th and 18th.

(See here for news on council deliberations, as well as agenda, minutes, and video from Edmonton Urban Planning Committee)

The administrative report presented to council on Feb 9th and 10th recommended against implementing a private tree bylaw. Notably, the report included no supporting data, no jurisdictional scan of comparable cities, and no cost–benefit analysis.

Meanwhile, concern about the loss of mature trees in Edmonton grows. Early indicators suggest we are not on track to meet our modest goal of 20% canopy coverage by 2071. Residents bear witness to properties being clear-cut by developers before development permits are issued and before the building footprint is known. The current state of affairs allows little consideration for tree retention.

Drs S. Agrawal and N. Welegedara from the University of Alberta have done excellent work evaluating the urban heat island effect in Edmonton. Their research indicates that we have a cooler city south of the river in places where trees are better preserved. In 2025 they obtained a grant for further research with their community partner, ERVCC. Their new research data, as of 2019, shows that 75 percent of trees are on private land.

Note: The data below was derived using 2019 LiDAR data combined with orthorectified images provided by the City of Edmonton. Additionally, they have included only trees that are taller than 3 metres. The city of Edmonton provided the LiDAR data, and the researchers also used publicly available orthorectified images from the city data portal to analyze tree cover. Dr. N. Welegedara and Dr. S. Agrawal employed machine learning and various algorithms for this process. Please note that their assessment is an estimation based on an aerial perspective. There are uncertainties associated with both the data and the algorithms used, as well as natural factors. For example, when two trees are very close together, they may appear to share a single canopy, making it challenging to differentiate between them. So the values are estimates with an accuracy exceeding 85%.

Above research provided by Drs N Welegedara and S Agrawal

ERVCC has done jurisdictional scans and interviews in BC’s lower mainland, Victoria, and Barrie, Ontario. We note that most major cities in Canada have a private tree bylaw, and the trend is to strengthen these bylaws because they are proving helpful for cost-effectively achieving urban canopy goals. The program administrators we spoke to said citizens got used to the bylaw, the notion of preserving trees was accepted, and thus the bylaw was not unduly difficult to administer.

A private tree bylaw is an opportunity to retain trees and preserve the beauty, comfort, and vital ecosystem services they provide. Cost-benefit analysis shows that the value of trees shade out the smaller costs of administering the program. Bylaws ensure that trees over a certain trunk diameter (usually 20-30 cm) are protected, and a permit is required to remove them. Permit fees help offset administrative costs. As well, citizens are able to help with enforcement. They are the eyes on the street. The timing of an Edmonton tree bylaw is ideal because a new zoning bylaw has just been put in place. Together, they can work to achieve our density, as well as our canopy, goals. Recently, City Administration has been charged with ensuring better landscaping compliance. Most large cities put landscaping compliance and private tree bylaw administration into one working group. The City of Edmonton can benefit from the learning curve of other cities in designing our bylaw.

Nature Canada’s Tree Equity program notes that we must incentivize tree planting on private land. Since a large part of the urban tree canopy is not found on public land, cities need to encourage private landowners to pitch in. A private tree bylaw ensures we will retain some mature and healthy trees.

ERVCC previously wrote this letter to decision makers outlining the issues. Please contact ERVCC if you would like to help with our campaign for a private tree bylaw.

ERVCC would also like to acknowledge and point to the work of Shrubscriber and Nature Alberta, both were key supporters of a private tree bylaw. Scrubscriber has done great work on the urban tree canopy and the heat island effect. Watch his U tube here. Taproot Edmonton has also done a tight summary of the issues here.

As we work towards a private tree bylaw we can also support programs for tree planting in our city.

Here are the links to current City of Edmonton programs:

The city is currently updating its Urban Forestry Management plan. Now is a good time to ensure a private tree bylaw is in place to help us retain large mature and healthy trees.