Urban Forestry

The City of Barrie maintains numerous parks and trails, but Barrie's urban forest is largely in your hands. A healthy city needs a strong green infrastructure and more than 75% of the land in Barrie is privately owned; therefore, property owners play a vital role in sustaining our green city.

Street trees are planted on the area of City-owned land between the property owner’s front property line and the street curb. Learn about street tree services & maintenance.

Sunnidale Park Tree Walk

An online guided tree walk takes users on an interactive tour of Sunnidale Park’s forests. Resident and visitors can learn about the unique and diverse ecosystems in Barrie, how to identify tree species, and the importance of forests for wildlife.

Ecological Offsetting Policy

Ecological offsetting is a strategy where an established fee may be collected by the municipality to compensate for the removal of trees or woodland area for development purposes. The fee is used to plant an equivalent number of trees or woodland area in an alternate municipally-owned location within City boundaries to achieve “no net loss” of the natural heritage feature. City Council approved an Ecological Offsetting Policy on October 25, 2023.

Fencing Around Natural Areas

Chain link fencing is installed between residential areas and natural areas to prevent private encroachments, pets from disturbing wildlife, and yard waste dumping (injurious to the roots of trees and plants and strictly prohibited). Residents are not permitted to damage City property by installing gates for personal access. Please report any damaged fencing to Service Barrie at (705) 726-4242 or ServiceBarrie@barrie.ca.

Trees on Private Property

Please refer to the Private Tree By-law for full information about trees on private property. The by-law regulate the injuring or destruction of trees within woodlots and only applies to trees that are part of a woodlot (forested area) of ½ acre in size or larger.

Heritage Trees

Council may designate a tree(s) as being unique and of importance to the City in terms of form, size, age and/or historical significance. Any person or organization may apply to have a tree on their own property or on public property (within the City of Barrie limits) designated as a “Heritage Tree”. See Heritage Tree Application

Prevent Forest Fires!

Many forest fires occur in areas called urban interface zones where homes, buildings, or cottages are built into surrounding natural forested areas. These large natural areas are always at risk for forest fires and can be inaccessible to emergency vehicles and crews. Lighting fires within natural areas is strictly prohibited at ALL times. If you see a fire, CALL 911 immediately. See Forest Fires Safety Information.