Tree cutting permit Victoriaville

Since trees are living and precious beings, as much for humans as for the environment, the City of Victoriaville has established certain provisions to regulate their planting, maintenance and felling. Each year, the City also raffles off 300 trees that it offers free of charge to its residents, and the Environment Department gives a tree to owners of new residential buildings.  

Tree pruning

Careful pruning of trees by a professional arborist promotes plant health and safe development. This intervention must be carried out according to specific standards and techniques so as not to harm the well-being of the trees. For example, it must be carried out at an appropriate time of the year, which varies according to the species of tree. If branches must be cut to free up the space around electrical wires, Hydro-Québec must be contacted before the intervention. When less than 30% of the top is pruned, no permit is required. When more than 50% of the crown is cut, the operation is considered to be topping and is illegal. In this situation, it is advisable to find out if the tree is eligible for felling. ​

Tree cutting

The City considers the removal of a tree's top, 50% or more of its top or roots, or any other action that results in the death of a tree to be a felling. Where a tree located on private property poses a hazard to public safety, the tree shall be felled and removed within the time frame established by a City employee. In addition, the City reserves the right to cut branches or remove a tree located on private property if it interferes with infrastructure. A Certificate of Approval or Building Permit must be obtained prior to cutting down a tree. Any violation of this by-law is punishable by a minimum fine of $500, to which is added an amount of $100 or $200 per tree felled, up to a maximum of $5,000. In certain circumstances, the issuance of the certificate is free of charge. For example, this is the case when the tree is dead or dying, dangerous to the safety of persons (unless it can be made safe by pruning), harmful to the development and health of neighbouring trees of greater or equal value, damaging to public or private property, or an obstruction to the execution of public works. It is also the case when the tree must be felled because of certain construction or development work, according to specific conditions.  ​

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Emerald Ash Borer​

Because EAB is an insect that originated in Asia and has no predators in North America, it has infested and killed a very large number of ash trees on the continent. To prevent the spread of the insect pest, the City is prohibiting the pruning or culling of ash trees during the period of the year when the EAB is active, April 30 to October 1. In the event that a tree of this species must be felled or pruned during this period, special permission must be obtained from the City.  

Tree planting​

Since all private property must have a certain number of trees, at least one of which must be on the front of the property, the owner is responsible for replacing felled trees if necessary to meet these minimum requirements. A new tree must be planted on the same property as the felled tree within 12 months of the expiry of the Certificate of Approval or Building Permit. At the time of planting, the tree must have a minimum diameter of 2.5 centimetres (measured at 6 centimetres above grade) and a minimum height of 1.5 metres.  
 
 
Prior to planting, careful site planning is required to ensure that the tree's needs are met. It is also important to plan the size of the tree at maturity and ensure that it will maintain the necessary distance from buildings and electrical wires. Except in agricultural zones, certain tree species cannot be planted within 15 metres of a property line, an easement for water and sewer infrastructure, or a foundation. These are: poplar, willow, silver maple, hard maple and white pine. The location of trees must also respect certain minimum distances from the street or sidewalk, from the ground projection of a main building, and from a fire hydrant. ​

Protection of trees during work

Before construction, renovation or demolition work is carried out on a building, several specific conditions must be met, whether it involves the felling of certain trees or the protection of trees located near manoeuvring areas. Before undertaking work that will require raising or lowering the ground level, certain conditions must also be met in order to preserve the health of the trees. This may include, for example, the installation of a network of drain pipes and/or the addition of gravel over the entire surface of the root system, or on the contrary, the adequate size of certain roots by an arboriculturist. It is the responsibility of the property owner to be well informed about these requirements.  ​

For more information​

For a request for a certificate of authorization or information, contact the Environment Department at 819-758-1571 or environnement@victoriaville.ca. The address of Victoriaville Town Hall is 1 Notre-Dame-Ouest, P.O. Box 370, Victoriaville, Quebec, G6P 6T2 .  
 
The information on this page was last updated on November 18, 2020. We invite you to visit the Town of Victoriaville website to see if there have been any changes since then by visiting this link Permit and certificate slaughter Town of Victoriaville​. Reasons for tree removal

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