Removing a dead ash tree in Ottawa costs the same as any other residential removal, $500 to $2,500 plus HST at our published schedule, as long as the tree can still be climbed. After roughly two or three winters standing dead, ash wood can no longer be trusted to hold a climber or a rigging load, so the same tree needs a bucket truck or a crane, charged at cost, and moves into a higher bracket. A dead ash, or a private ash infested with emerald ash borer, is exempt from the City’s distinctive-tree permit under By-law 2020-340, so there is no $174 fee and no weeks of waiting, but photograph the tree before anyone cuts. Grinding the stump afterwards starts at $250 for a stump up to 30 cm across, plus about 20% because ash is a hardwood. The ash wood cannot leave the Ottawa–Gatineau regulated area. Every number on this page is on our pricing page; every permit statement is on our by-law page.
Why dead ash is the most common removal in Ottawa
Emerald ash borer was confirmed in Ottawa in 2008, spreading outward from the St. Laurent area, and it has been killing the city’s untreated ash ever since. Streets in Orléans and Kanata that were planted entirely in ash lost their whole canopy at once. If you have an ash on your property and it has never been treated, the realistic assumption is that it is infested or will be. Our emerald ash borer guide covers how to confirm the tree is an ash and how to read the five signs; this page is about the removal itself: what it costs, when the permit exemption applies, and why the price goes up the longer the tree stands.
What a dead ash removal costs
Most residential tree removals in Ottawa cost between $500 and $2,500 plus HST, with a $160 minimum on any job, and a dead ash sits inside that range as long as it can be climbed. The price is set by trunk diameter, access for the truck and chipper, and what the tree is standing over, not by height. A dead ash on an open lawn with a driveway beside it is at the low end; the same tree between a house and a hydro service, with everything underneath it irreplaceable, is at the high end because every piece has to be rigged down instead of dropped.
The condition of the wood is the one factor that is specific to ash. While the tree is alive or recently dead, a climber can go up it and lower the limbs conventionally. After about two or three winters standing dead, ash goes brittle faster than almost any other tree in Ottawa, and at that point no competent company will climb it or hang a rigging load from it. The job moves to a bucket truck if one can reach, or a crane if it cannot, and that equipment is charged at cost on top of the removal. That is why a dead ash removed this year costs less than the identical tree removed in three years, and the gap is not small.
A row of dead ash on one property, or a lot clearing that cannot be scoped tree by tree, can be quoted by the day instead; the crew day rates and the complexity factor (1.0 for an open drop zone and sound wood, up to 2.0 where a crane, bucket or engineered dismantle is required) are published on the pricing page.
The permit: dead and infested ash are exempt
Under Ottawa’s Tree Protection By-law 2020-340, a private tree 30 cm or more in diameter at breast height on a lot of one hectare or less inside the urban boundary normally needs a distinctive-tree permit before it comes down: $174 per tree, a decision that takes weeks rather than days, and fines from $500 to $100,000 for skipping it, paid by the owner rather than the contractor. The City’s own guidance names three exemptions that cover most ash calls: a tree that is dead, a tree that is an immediate threat to public health and safety, and a private ash tree infested with emerald ash borer.
So a confirmed dead ash, or a living ash with clear borer signs, generally comes down without a permit. Two cautions. First, photograph the whole tree and the trunk before anyone cuts, so the exemption can be shown afterwards if the City asks. Second, an ash that is declining but still holds most of its crown and shows no borer signs is a living tree and may still need the permit; if yours is somewhere in between, settle that before the work rather than after. In the rural villages (Manotick, Greely, Carp and the rest) the by-law does not reach private trees at all, and Kemptville, Arnprior and Rockland have their own rules; the by-law page lists them by neighbourhood.
Is it worth treating instead?
The City treats selected municipal ash with TreeAzin, a systemic insecticide injected into the trunk every two years, and the same treatment is available for private trees. It is an ongoing commitment, not a one-time fix, and it does not guarantee survival. Treatment makes sense for a large, valuable shade tree that still holds most of its crown. Once a tree has lost roughly a third of its crown, treatment is money spent slowing a decline that has already gone too far, and the honest advice is removal and replanting. We do not sell treatment, so that advice costs us the job.
When to do it
A dead ash can come out in any season and the price is the same year-round at the regular schedule. Winter has two advantages: emerald ash borer damage is easiest to see from the street when woodpeckers have stripped the outer bark into pale blonde patches, and a standing dead ash gets more dangerous every winter it stands, so January is when we would rather take one down than clear it off a roof after a wet snow. Dead ash sheds limbs unpredictably, which is why it appears on every storm-damage list we write. If a limb is already hanging in the canopy or the tree is over a roof, that is an emergency removal, quoted on site at 1.5 times the schedule.
The stump and the wood
Grind the stump before you replant. Grinding takes the stump 20 to 30 cm below grade and leaves the root plate to break down. It is priced by the diameter at the root flare: $250 for a stump 30 cm across or less, $490 at 60 cm, $760 at 80 cm and $1,190 at a metre, plus HST, with ash carrying the roughly 20% hardwood adjustment; a second stump on the same visit is half price. A 40 cm ash stump, for example, is $310 plus about 20%, so roughly $370 plus HST.
The wood is restricted. A federal ministerial order prohibits moving ash material out of the Ottawa and Gatineau regulated area without approval, which is exactly how the borer reached places it had not yet destroyed. Ash from your property can be used on your property; we dispose of the rest inside the regulated area. Do not take ash firewood to the cottage.
What to plant in its place
Not another ash. The lesson Ottawa learned is diversity: the 10-20-30 rule caps any one species at 10 per cent of a tree population so that a single pest cannot clear a block the way the borer cleared the ash. Plant something different from your neighbours, keep it clear of the hydro lines and the foundation, and get the stump ground first. The planting guide covers where not to put it and the tree care calendar covers when: deciduous stock in the ground by mid-October, conifers by the end of September.
Not sure what stage your ash is at?
Send a photo of the trunk and one of the whole tree from a distance through the contact page, or call 613-715-0103, and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth treating, whether it can still be climbed, and whether a permit applies. Quotes come within 48 hours of the site visit; the removal price includes the cleanup.
Quick answers
How much does it cost to remove a dead ash tree in Ottawa?
Between $500 and $2,500 plus HST at our published schedule for a typical residential ash that can still be climbed, with a $160 minimum on any job. Diameter, access for the truck and chipper, and what the tree is standing over set the price. Once an ash has stood dead for two or three winters it is too brittle to climb or rig from, so a bucket truck or crane is added at cost.
Do I need a permit to remove a dead ash tree in Ottawa?
Generally no. Under By-law 2020-340 a dead tree, an immediate hazard, and a private ash infested with emerald ash borer are all exempt from the distinctive-tree permit, so there is no $174 fee and no waiting. Photograph the tree before anyone cuts. A living ash over 30 cm across that shows no borer signs may still need the permit.
Why does a dead ash get more expensive to remove the longer it stands?
Because ash goes brittle faster than almost any other tree here. After about two or three winters standing dead the wood cannot be trusted to hold a climber or a rigging load, which forces a bucket truck or a crane, charged at cost. The same tree removed while it can still be climbed stays inside the normal $500 to $2,500 range.
Can I keep the ash wood for firewood?
On your own property, yes. A federal ministerial order restricts moving ash material out of the Ottawa and Gatineau regulated area, so it cannot go to the cottage or anywhere outside the area. We dispose of what you do not keep inside the regulated area.
How much does it cost to grind an ash stump in Ottawa?
From $250 for a stump 30 cm across or less at the root flare, rising to $1,190 at a metre, plus HST, plus about 20% because ash is a hardwood. A second stump on the same visit is half price. Grinding goes 20 to 30 cm below grade, deep enough to replant over.
Is it too late to treat my ash instead of removing it?
If the tree still holds most of its crown and is one you would not want to lose, TreeAzin injections every two years can keep it going, with no guarantee. Past roughly a third of crown loss, treatment only slows a decline that has already gone too far and the money is better spent on removal and replanting.
Related: how to tell if your ash has emerald ash borer · our published prices · permit rules by neighbourhood · what moves the price of any removal · stump grinding · emergency tree removal · glossary (blonding, root flare, rigging, drop zone).
Taking wood to the cottage this fall? Read what the federal firewood rule actually says for Ottawa: moving ash firewood out of the CFIA’s emerald ash borer regulated area is prohibited all year, cottage trips included; non-ash firewood can only leave the area through a CFIA-approved facility, so a private household has no legal route out with any species; yard waste is under the same rule; but most of eastern and central Ontario (Renfrew, Lanark, Frontenac, Leeds and Grenville, the Kawarthas, Muskoka) is inside the same regulated area as Ottawa, so most cottage trips never cross the line.