Arborists are working year-round to maintain and prune our trees. We are working to establish a proactive block pruning program where we can prune each street every seven to 10 years. During street tree pruning work, we may need to do emergency tree removals for public safety reasons. In these cases, we cannot provide advanced notice to nearby residents.
Tree planting and maintenance
Learn about our approach to tree planting and maintenance. We’ve outlined our service levels for tree maintenance and removals below.
On this page:
About tree planting and maintenance
Kitchener’s urban forest covers about 27% of our land base. It includes all trees growing on public and private lands, including trees in the downtown, old and new neighbourhoods, commercial and institutional lands, city parks, and natural areas. It is a dominant part of our green infrastructure, providing valuable ecological and hydrological functions and processes to the community.
Our Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy provides a vision, goal and five branches for a sustainable urban forest. It is important to conserve and manage our existing urban forest on public and private lands to achieve our tree canopy target of 30% for each ward by 2050 and 33% city-wide by 2070.
Learn about our tree planting and maintenance approach using our urban forest map. On this map, you can see upcoming:
- tree planting
- tree removals
- stump removals
- street tree pruning schedule
- potential tree planting points
Growing Kitchener's Urban Canopy
Our Growing Kitchener's Urban Canopy project will plant nearly 20,000 new trees in Kitchener's neighbourhoods, parks and natural spaces in 2025 and 2026. It will enhance local parks, expand naturalized areas, replace trees lost to the Emerald Ash Borer in our natural areas and create vital habitats for local wildlife and pollinators. Planting will focus on communities with minimal canopy coverage to make sure the benefits of trees are equitably distributed across the city. It will not include replacing trees that have been recently removed, which are covered by other City programs.
The project is supported by a $2.5 million grant from the Government of Canada through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Growing Canada’s Community Canopies program. This funding will match the City’s planned spending in 2025 and 2026 to expedite the growth of Kitchener’s urban forest, helping double the impact of the work.
As we work to plant new trees through this program, you can suggest a planting location on public land.
Public planting event
To help kick off the Growing Kitchener's Urban Canopy project, we will be hosting a public tree planting event to plant approximately 200 trees with the help of Sustainabel Waterloo Region and members of the community. The event is free to attend, with tools and refreshments provided.
- date: Saturday, September 20
- time: 10 a.m.
- location: Mausser Park
Register for the planting event using Sustainable Waterloo Region's online form.
Trees on public property
Find information about trees on public property:
- city-owned trees
- tree maintenance and service levels
- structural pruning
- request a tree on public property
- tree safety issue
City-owned trees
Trees located within road rights-of-way, boulevards and parks are city-owned and, therefore, are public trees. Caring for and removing those trees is our responsibility. Damaging or removing these trees can result in criminal charges.
If you’re unsure if a tree is ours, call us at 519-741-2345 or send us an email.
Tree maintenance and service levels
Tree maintenance of city-owned trees is taking place year-round. With over 72,000 trees, our teams are working to maintain our tree canopy and meet service levels.
Open the accordions below to learn about our service levels for different types of public tree maintenance.
If we need to remove a tree because it is a risk or hazard to the public, we will remove it as soon as possible. We will try to contact the neighbouring property owner to make them aware. In some cases where trees are larger, we will remove the branches, or crown, of the tree first, and the stem stays standing until we can remove it later with other specialized equipment.
After we remove a tree, the next step is to remove the stump. This typically occurs the year after tree removal or, in some cases, within the same year.
If the area where the stump is removed can fit a new tree, we will plant a replacement tree. Our goal is to plant the replacement tree within two years of removing the original tree, but this timeline can vary. Our team will select the replacement species of tree based on various factors and considerations. In some cases, we may be unable to replant in the same boulevard location due to site factors like utility lines or limited space.
Structural pruning
Tree maintenance includes more than clearing sight lines and dead branches. Our forestry staff do structural pruning on city trees to help them grow into healthy, mature trees. Structural pruning helps increase tree health, longevity and resiliency to climate change.
In forests, trees develop a strong branch structure because they grow near each other. The shade created by other trees limits the growth of lower limbs. In the city, where there are a lot of single trees, the amount of sunlight lets them grow competing branches. This type of tree structure is vulnerable to breakage and can reduce the tree’s life expectancy. Trees with one dominant stem and well-spaced branches are more likely to thrive for a long time.
After we do structural pruning, the trees will have fewer branches and look less full. This is a part of the process and is not a cause for concern. Pruning happens over years and helps develop a strong, resilient branch structure.
Request a tree on public property
Do you want to add a tree to your neighbourhood or on the boulevard in front of your home? Submit your request through our online form or call 519-741-2345. If we can plant a tree in your preferred location, we’ll let you know and add the tree to an upcoming tree planting season.
Tree safety issues
If you have a concern or question about a city tree, please call us at 519-741-2345 or send us an email. We want to know about tree risk issues, including dead or dangerous-looking trees or other safety issues.
Trees on private property
Find information about trees on private property:
Backyard tree planting program
Do you want to add a new tree to your backyard? We're working with Reep Green Solutions to plant trees in backyards at a reduced price.
The backyard tree planting program includes:
- personalized property consultation
- one or two native trees
- delivery and full planting service
- care and maintenance guide
Learn more and apply on Reep's website.
If you live in one of our Community Canopy target neighbourhoods, you could receive your first tree for free! Visit our Community Canopy page to learn more about our planting program and discover whether you are eligible for a free tree.
Property standards
We do not get involved in disputes between neighbours about overhanging branches or tree maintenance. For information about the relevant property standards, visit our property standards page.
Contact Us
City of Kitchener
200 King Street West,
Kitchener, Ontario
Telephone: 519-741-2345,
TTY: 1-866-969-9994
mailto:info@kitchener.ca