If the trunk grows on the boundary, the tree is the common property of both owners under the Forestry Act. Neither of you can injure or destroy it without the other's consent, and doing so is an offence carrying a fine of up to $20,000, imprisonment of up to three months, or both.
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Section 10 of the Forestry Act does three things. An owner may plant a tree on the boundary with the adjoining owner's consent. Every tree whose trunk is growing on the boundary between adjoining lands is the common property of the owners of both. And every person who injures or destroys such a tree without the consent of the land owners is guilty of an offence under the Act.
It is the trunk that matters, not the canopy and not the roots, and Ontario courts have applied that literally: if any part of the trunk where it meets the ground crosses the line, the whole tree is jointly owned. The tree does not have to be healthy, attractive or wanted by both sides. Common ownership means neither owner can remove it alone, even to plant something better in its place.
The penalty section makes conviction a genuine risk: a fine of not more than $20,000, or imprisonment for up to three months, or both. That sits alongside the civil claim, not instead of it. Damages for wrongful removal are usually assessed as the cost of restoration or the loss in property value, and can run to many times what the removal cost.
For a tree whose trunk sits entirely on your neighbour's land, the common law right of abatement generally allows you to cut back overhanging branches and encroaching roots to the property line, at your own expense, without entering their land. The cuttings remain the tree owner's property. Abatement is self-help, and it stops where the work would kill or destabilise the tree.
That limit is where people get caught. Pruning heavily enough to kill a tree whose trunk is on the boundary is injuring it, and the Forestry Act offence does not require an intention to destroy. Get an arborist's written opinion before any significant work, and put the plan to your neighbour in writing so there is a record of what was proposed and what was agreed.
Municipal tree by-laws sit on top of all of this. Under the Municipal Act a municipality may regulate the injuring and destruction of trees, and many Ontario municipalities require a permit before removing or heavily pruning a tree above a set trunk diameter — including a tree standing entirely on your own property. Check the by-law before anyone books a crew.
A hedge is not one thing in law. It is a row of separate trunks, and ownership follows each trunk individually. A mature hedge along a boundary will often contain some jointly owned plants and some belonging entirely to one side. The survey and the trunk positions decide it, plant by plant, which is why hedge disputes are more expensive to resolve than they look.
There is no statutory cost-sharing scheme for boundary trees the way the Line Fences Act handles fences. Maintenance costs are shared only where the owners agree, or where one owner's neglect causes damage and a negligence or nuisance claim follows. Put any agreement in writing, and if the trees will outlast your ownership, register it so it binds the next owner.
If a tree causes damage — a limb through a roof in a storm — liability is not automatic. The question is whether the owner knew or ought to have known of the danger and failed to act on it. Documented complaints about a visibly failing tree are what turn an act of God into negligence, which is a good reason to complain in writing rather than over the fence.
Not on your own. Common ownership means you need the other owner's consent whatever the tree's condition, and the offence provision has no exception for good intentions. Get an arborist's report, put the request in writing with the report attached, and if consent is unreasonably refused and the tree is genuinely dangerous, get advice before acting rather than after.
Generally yes, back to the property line, at your own cost, without trespassing onto the neighbour's land. But not if the cutting would kill or destabilise a tree whose trunk sits on the boundary, and not without a permit if the municipal tree by-law requires one. Offer the cuttings back to the owner rather than leaving them on their lawn.
A civil claim for your share of the loss, measured by replacement or restoration cost or by the drop in your property's value, whichever the evidence supports. Separately, the conduct is an offence under the Forestry Act and can be prosecuted. Get an arborist's valuation quickly, while the stump, the wood and the photographs still exist.
Often, yes. Many Ontario municipalities have tree protection by-laws with a trunk diameter threshold, and some separately protect specific species or heritage trees. Municipal fines under a tree by-law are entirely separate from the Forestry Act offence, and both can apply to the same afternoon's work.
Whoever agrees to. There is no fence-viewer equivalent for trees and no statutory apportionment. In practice one owner arranges and pays for the work and asks for a contribution, or the two sign a short cost-sharing agreement covering the work, the contractor and the split before anything is booked.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm everything with you by tomorrow.