Max Trees takes storm-damaged and hazardous trees to the front of the schedule across Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley. Call 613-715-0103 — the phone is answered 8 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, and for urgent work it is faster than the contact form. Emergency, after-hours and storm callouts are priced at 1.5 times our published schedule, with a $160 + HST minimum on any job. If a wire is involved, stay 10 metres back and call 9-1-1, then Hydro Ottawa at 613-738-6400, before you call anyone else. This page explains what counts as an emergency, what it costs, what the City’s by-law says about hazard trees, and what to do in the first ten minutes.
What counts as an emergency, and what can wait
Not everything that looks bad after a storm is dangerous, and some things that look survivable are not. We treat the following as same-day work:
- Any contact between a tree and a hydro line. That is a 9-1-1 and Hydro Ottawa call first; no tree company can legally work on an energized line.
- A tree or large limb resting on a roof, wall or vehicle. Weight already bearing on a structure can shift.
- A hung-up limb — a broken branch caught in the canopy above. These come down without warning, in no predictable direction, and they are the classic cause of injury in the days after a storm.
- A tree that has partly uprooted, with soil heaving or cracking on the side opposite the lean. A partly failed root plate can finish failing in the next gust.
- A split trunk or a torn major union with the tree still standing.
The following can wait a few days and are booked as a regular job at the regular schedule: a tree fully down in an open part of the yard touching nothing, small broken branches on the ground, and torn bark or a stripped limb stub with no structural involvement.
The first ten minutes
If any part of the tree is touching a wire, or a wire is down anywhere on the property, stay at least 10 metres away — about the length of a school bus — from the wire and from anything touching it, including water, fences, vehicles and the tree itself. Treat every downed line as live. Then call 9-1-1 first and Hydro Ottawa at 613-738-6400.
Keep people, pets and vehicles out from under anything hanging in the canopy. Then photograph everything before any cleanup starts: wide shots, close shots, the position of the tree and the damage. If there is any chance of an insurance claim, those photographs are the claim, and if the tree is removed under the by-law’s hazard exemption they are your record of why.
Leave the chainsaw alone for anything under tension, anything above your head, and anything that would need a ladder. Storm-damaged wood stores energy and releases it in a direction you did not choose. Clearing brush on the ground away from the trunk is reasonable; everything else is worth a phone call.
What emergency tree removal costs in Ottawa
We publish our prices, and the storm rule is simple: emergency, after-hours and storm callout is 1.5 times the published schedule. A typical residential removal in Ottawa runs $500 to $2,500 at the regular schedule, so a tree that would normally be quoted at $1,000 is quoted at about $1,500 when it has to come off a roof tonight. The minimum charge on any job is $160 + HST. Storm-damaged and hazardous trees are quoted on site, because decayed or split wood that cannot hold a rigging load may need a bucket truck or a crane, and that is quoted at cost.
The 1.5 applies to the callout, not to storm damage as a category. A tree that is fully down and touching nothing can safely wait a few days, and it is priced at the regular schedule when it does. We will tell you which side of that line you are on when you call. The full residential and stump schedule, with HST shown separately, is on our pricing page.
Do you need a permit to remove a storm-damaged tree in Ottawa?
Usually not for a genuine hazard. Ottawa’s Tree Protection By-law 2020-340 exempts dead trees and immediate hazards, so a dangerous storm-damaged tree does not have to wait on a permit. Photograph its condition before the work anyway. A damaged but stable tree is a different matter: if it is 30 cm or more across at breast height and sits inside the urban boundary — Kanata, Barrhaven, Orléans, Stittsville, Nepean, Gloucester and the inner city all qualify since February 1, 2024 — it may still need a distinctive tree permit at $174 per tree. The property owner, not the contractor, wears the fine, which runs from $500 to $100,000. Street-by-street detail is on our tree permit rules by neighbourhood page. Kemptville, Arnprior and Rockland are outside the by-law and have their own rules.
Will insurance cover it?
Ask your own insurer rather than a neighbour, but the general pattern in Ontario is this: if the tree damaged a structure — house, garage, fence — the damage is usually covered and removing the tree from the structure often is too. If the tree fell in the yard and hit nothing, removal is commonly treated as maintenance and not covered. In most cases you claim on your own policy for damage to your own property, even when the tree came from next door. Ask two specific questions: is debris removal covered, and is there a separate limit for it? That limit is where these claims usually pinch.
Do not hire the crew that knocked on your door
Every storm produces the same problem a week later: door-to-door crews with verbal quotes and insurance that does not cover climbing. No licence is required to run a tree company in Ontario, so the name on the truck tells you little. Before anyone cuts, ask for two documents: a commercial general liability certificate emailed to you by the company’s broker, with the named insured matching the quote, dates covering the job, and climbing and removal not excluded; and a written quote that says what is included, cleanup and all. We provide our certificate on request. If you do sign something at your door, it is a direct agreement under Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act and you can cancel it within 10 days of receiving the written copy. More on this in how to choose a tree service in Ottawa.
Not every damaged tree has to go
The emotional response after a storm is to take everything down. An assessment earns its keep here. Often saveable: a tree that lost one large limb but kept its main structure and most of its crown; a tree with torn bark on a single side; a tree with a suspect union that can be cabled and braced rather than removed. Cabling a mature tree costs a fraction of removing it and keeps a tree you could not replace in twenty years, particularly the silver maples along the rivers in Arnprior and Rockland. Usually not saveable: a trunk split into the main stem, more than roughly half the crown gone, a lifted root plate, or a tree leaning into a target with soil movement at the base.
Before the next storm
Most storm failures are predictable if anyone looks. The patterns we see again and again across Ottawa: narrow V-shaped forks with bark trapped inside them, which look sound until the day they split; dead ash, which sheds limbs unpredictably and is everywhere; dense, unthinned crowns on Norway maple, which catch wet snow like a sail; and shallow-rooted trees on the marine clay through Barrhaven, which tip whole after a saturated spring. A crown thinning before winter costs a fraction of an emergency callout after one.
Where we go
Ottawa proper, Kanata, Nepean, Barrhaven, Orléans, Gloucester and Stittsville, plus Kemptville, Arnprior and Rockland in the Valley. Max quotes every job personally and is on site for the work — no subcontractors, no call centre. Storm damage moves to the front of the schedule; for anything urgent, call 613-715-0103 rather than using the form. The fuller step-by-step is in our guide After the storm: what to do with a fallen or split tree in Ottawa.
Quick answers
Do you offer 24/7 emergency tree removal in Ottawa?
Our phone, 613-715-0103, is answered 8 AM to 9 PM every day including weekends, and storm and hazard calls go to the front of the schedule. For a wire down in the middle of the night, call 9-1-1 and Hydro Ottawa at 613-738-6400 — no tree company can work on an energized line, and the tree waits until the line is made safe.
How much does emergency tree removal cost in Ottawa?
Emergency, after-hours and storm callout is 1.5 times our published schedule. A typical residential removal is $500 to $2,500 at regular rates, so an emergency removal of the same tree is roughly $750 to $3,750, quoted on site, with a $160 minimum on any job and HST added. A bucket truck or crane, if decayed wood cannot be rigged, is charged at cost.
Do I need a permit to remove a storm-damaged tree in Ottawa?
Not for a dead tree or an immediate hazard — By-law 2020-340 exempts both. Photograph the condition first. A damaged but stable tree 30 cm or more across inside the urban boundary may still need a distinctive tree permit, currently $174 per tree.
Does home insurance cover storm tree removal in Ontario?
Generally, if the tree damaged a structure, both the damage and getting the tree off it are usually covered. If it fell in the yard and hit nothing, removal is commonly treated as maintenance and not covered. Ask your insurer about debris-removal limits.
A branch is hanging in my tree after the storm. How urgent is that?
Urgent. A hung-up limb caught in the canopy can release at any moment and in any direction, and it is the most common cause of injury in the days after a storm. Keep people and vehicles out from under it and have it taken down the same day.
Should I hire the crew that knocked on my door after the storm?
Only if they can email you a broker-issued liability certificate that covers climbing and removal, and put the quote in writing with cleanup included. No licence is required to run a tree company in Ontario, so those two documents are the only real filter. Anything signed at the door can be cancelled within 10 days under Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act.
Prices on this page are from our published 2026 schedule and exclude 13% HST. By-law and insurance notes summarise the rules as we understand them on the date above and are not legal or insurance advice; confirm with the City of Ottawa and your own insurer.