Trades & Contractors · 5 min read · Last updated
If your business cuts, prunes, removes or assesses trees in Hamilton, Schedule 14 of By-law 07-170 requires a Tree Cutting Service Company licence. It is one of the lighter applications in the City's guide: four checklist items, no inspections and no zoning certificate. What it does take seriously is insurance, because this is high-risk work done over other people's property.
The City of Hamilton lists this under its “Establishments” category: “A business engaged in the practice of assessing the health and structural integrity of trees, removing trees, pruning tree branches or roots, removing stumps, or transplanting trees, including climbing aloft and using rigging equipment for any such purpose.”
Who needs this licence?
The licence covers a business engaged in the practice of assessing the health and structural integrity of trees, removing trees, pruning tree branches or roots, removing stumps, or transplanting trees, including climbing aloft and using rigging equipment for any of that work.
Read the definition as a list of separate triggers. You do not have to fell trees to be caught by it. A business that only assesses tree health, or only grinds stumps, or only prunes roots ahead of construction, is still a tree cutting service company for licensing purposes.
The reference to climbing aloft and rigging equipment tells you what the City is thinking about: work at height over houses, driveways and neighbouring properties. That is also why the insurance requirement is the highest hurdle in the application.
Schedule 14 of By-law 07-170 holds the full definitions, requirements and restrictions. Note that this licence is about the business practice, and it is separate from any approvals that may apply to removing a particular tree on a particular property.
What documents do you need?
The checklist has four items, which makes this one of the more approachable Hamilton licences to assemble.
First, the completed business licence application form. Second, a valid business registration, corporate profile or master business licence dated within one year of the application, which proves the business exists and identifies who stands behind it.
Third, a Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check from the police service board in your city of residence, dated within 36 days of the application. Third party clearances will not be accepted, so use the police service rather than a screening firm.
Fourth, liability insurance and property damage insurance of no less than two million dollars. This is the item that most often holds up an application, because the limit is higher than some small operators carry and adjusting a policy takes time. Talk to your broker before you start the rest of the paperwork.
Zoning and premises requirements
There is no Zoning Verification Certificate on this checklist and no zoning addendum route, which is unusual for an establishment licence in Hamilton.
The reason is practical. A tree cutting service company does its work at customers' properties, so there is no single licensed premises for the City to assess. The licence follows the business, not an address.
Zoning still governs any property you operate from. A yard where you store chippers, bucket trucks, logs or wood chips is subject to the zoning for that land in the ordinary way, and a contractor's yard is not permitted everywhere. Check the zoning before you lease a yard, even though the licence itself does not ask you to.
Separately, rules protecting specific trees can apply to the property you are working on. Those belong to the property and its owner rather than to your licence, but a licensed company is expected to know they exist.
Inspections and approvals
No inspections are listed for this licence. There is no fire, health, parking or compliance inspection, and the Licensing team does not circulate inspection requests as part of the application.
That follows from the nature of the business. There is no licensed premises for an inspector to attend, and the work happens at a different address every day.
In place of inspections, the City relies on documentary checks: a current business registration, a recent police clearance and proof that insurance is in force at the required limit. Keep those current between renewals, since they are the only ongoing evidence the licence rests on.
Site safety on a job remains governed by workplace health and safety law and by your own duty of care to the property owner and the public. The licence does not replace those obligations.
How much does it cost?
The fee structure is simple: a processing fee to open the file, and a licence fee for the licence itself. There are no inspection fees and no zoning charge, which makes this one of the cheaper business licences in the guide.
HST applies to the processing fee but not to the licence fee, so the total is not simply the sum of the two advertised base amounts.
Renewal is charged as the licence fee alone. The processing fee is a new application item, so the annual cost after the first year is lower.
A licence that has expired attracts a reinstatement fee, which is substantially more than the renewal itself. The City sets all amounts in its fee schedule and confirms them during the application, so ask for the breakdown in writing when you file.
How to apply
Sort out insurance first. Confirm with your broker that you can produce liability and property damage coverage of no less than two million dollars, and get the certificate of insurance issued in the exact name of the business that will hold the licence.
Pull a current business registration, corporate profile or master business licence dated within the past year.
Order the Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check from the police service board where you live, and file within 36 days of the date on it. Do not use a private screening company, because that clearance will be refused.
Submit the completed business licence application form with the three supporting documents and pay the processing and licence fees. Because there are no inspections to schedule, this licence is generally issued on the strength of a complete file.
Renewals and staying compliant
Renewal requires Declarations A and B to be completed. These are the City forms where you confirm the business and the people behind it still match what is on file.
You must also provide a valid certificate of insurance at renewal. That is the substantive annual check for this licence: the City is confirming that your coverage has not lapsed or been reduced below the required limit.
The renewal charge is the licence fee, with no processing fee and no inspection fees.
If the licence lapses, a reinstatement fee applies on top. Line up your insurance renewal date and your licence renewal date so a gap in one does not cost you the other.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. Which of these activities does not require a Tree Cutting Service Company licence in Hamilton?
The definition covers assessing, removing, pruning, stump removal and transplanting, so a business that does none of that work is not carrying on the licensed practice.
2. What insurance does the application require?
The checklist requires liability insurance and property damage insurance of no less than two million dollars, and a valid certificate is required again at renewal.
3. Which inspections are circulated for a tree cutting service company application?
The guide lists no inspections for this licence, because the work happens at customers' properties rather than at a licensed premises.
Skip the paperwork
Tell Permits2Go about your business and it assembles the licence application for you — document checklists, e-signatures and a guided workspace for Hamilton, with more cities on the way.
This guide is general information, not legal or professional advice. Licensing requirements, by-laws and fees change and vary by municipality — always confirm the current rules with the City before you apply.