Tree species
Tree species and the Comox Valley permit rules
Courtenay Tree Removal tracks tree species regulated in the Comox Valley. Under Tree Protection and Management Bylaw No. 2850, 2016, the City of Courtenay protects six species including Pacific yew. Comox sets a 20 cm threshold instead of 30 cm for nine priority native species, and we check these rules before we quote you.
Updated August 2026
Not every tree on a Comox Valley lot carries the same paperwork. Courtenay and Comox bylaws single out specific native species by name, establishing distinct permit triggers depending on where your property sits. We check the species before we quote the job, because the species is what the bylaw checks first.
A protected or priority species does not mean your tree can never come down. Every bylaw that applies in this valley makes room for dead, hazardous and storm-damaged trees, and working out which exemption fits yours is part of what we do when we quote it.
Which six species are protected by name in Courtenay?
Any of these six, over 0.5 m tall, needs a permit from the City of Courtenay regardless of trunk size. Garry oak has thick, deeply furrowed grey bark and rounded, deeply lobed leaves that make it easy to spot on your lawn. Pacific dogwood shows large white flowers around a small central cluster each spring, making it easy to identify from the ground. Western white pine carries its blue-green needles in bundles of five, the one pine on the Island where you can confirm the species by counting. Pacific yew has thin reddish bark that peels in shreds, flat needles, and bright red berries in autumn. Trembling aspen has smooth greenish-grey bark and round leaves on a flattened stalk, which is why the leaves flutter in almost no wind at all. Arbutus sheds its thin red-orange bark in curls year-round, not seasonally, and is slow to recover from any digging or grade change near the trunk. We measure and identify before we quote, so you know which bylaw applies before a permit application is even started.
Why do priority native species have a lower permit threshold in Comox?
Under Comox rules, standard tree species require a permit once trunks reach 30 cm across. Comox sets a lower 20 cm threshold for nine priority native species, including Douglas fir and western redcedar. Douglas fir has flat single needles with two pale stripes underneath, and a hanging cone with a distinctive papery three-pointed bract poking out from under each scale. Western redcedar has fibrous reddish bark that tears in vertical strips, flat sprays of scale-like foliage, and often a forked top on older trees. Both species also grow tall enough, and hold enough dead wood in an old crown, that they show up often on the storm-damage calls we get after a southeasterly blows through.
Related: tree removal cost guide · tree permits and bylaws
To confirm whether a tree on your lot has special permit protection, request a free tree removal quote and we will inspect the species in person.