Ravine Lots and Yard Waste: What Toronto's Ravine Bylaw Means for Your Fall Cleanup

Fall cleanup on a ravine lot raises a question a flat street never does: can the branches go over the bank? In Toronto, the slope behind the house may be a protected area even when the front lawn is not. The Toronto ravine bylaw is Chapter 658 of the Municipal Code, titled Ravine and Natural Feature Protection (RNFP), also called tree and ravine protection in Toronto. It governs injury to trees, dumping, and grade changes inside those mapped areas.

Yard waste dumped into a ravine is refuse under that chapter. The City wants leaves and brush in the collection stream or a backyard composter. Junk 'Of' Urs hauls brush and yard debris that are already on the ground. An arborist cuts the tree. The truck takes the pile away from the slope.

Where the ravine bylaw applies

Ravine and Natural Feature Protection applies to private and public natural areas. The City's Property Owner's Guide to Healthy Ravines says the boundary follows natural features and topography, not the property line. A backyard can sit inside RNFP while the front yard is covered by the Private Tree Bylaw instead. Inside a protected area, the ravine bylaw applies to trees of any size and any species.

Ravine lots in Rosedale, Hoggs Hollow and York Mills, Lawrence Park, and The Bridle Path often have a protected slope at the back of a deep lot. Houses on the same street can fall on different sides of the Chapter 658 line. Confirm the map before you pile brush near the bank or ask anyone to move soil there.

What needs a permit

Section 658-2 is the prohibition. Without a permit, no person shall injure, destroy, or remove a tree on land in a protected area, or permit someone else to do it. Without a permit, no person shall place or dump fill or refuse, or alter the grade, on land in a protected area, or permit someone else to do it.

Refuse, in the chapter's definitions, includes leaves, branches, and logs that have not fallen naturally, plus roots, construction material, debris, and household garbage. A fall pile you raked, cut, or stacked, then pushed down the slope, fits that definition. The same City guide describes naturally deposited leaf litter and fallen wood as part of a healthy ravine. That material is already on the forest floor. A yard pile added from the lawn above is a different thing.

A few narrow exceptions exist. Cultivating a garden bed does not need a permit when the work does not create or steepen a slope past 10 percent. Placing less than five cubic metres of soil to maintain an existing manicured area is also listed. A season of brush, fill, or bagged leaves tipped over the bank is outside those exceptions.

Where yard waste should go, and why the slope matters

The property owner's guide tells ravine owners to avoid throwing compost, leaves, gardening debris, or garbage into the ravine. Use City of Toronto collection, or a backyard composter. Invasive plants are the exception to composting: bag them in black garbage bags so the seed does not travel back into the ravine.

If you are looking up where to dump yard waste in Toronto, start with your collection calendar and the Drop-Off Depots, not the slope. Curbside bundle sizes, the 7.5 cm diameter limit, the 1.2 m length limit, and kraft bags are in our Toronto yard waste branch rules guide at junkofurs.com/blog/toronto-yard-waste-branch-rules. The fall calendar, including the last pickup and what happens after it, is at junkofurs.com/blog/last-yard-waste-pickup-toronto. Depots use the same piece-size limit for yard waste, with Christmas trees as the exception. Wood thicker than 7.5 cm or longer than 1.2 m is oversize. It still does not belong on the bank.

The same guide explains the harm. Dumped material, including yard waste, can smother vegetation and tree roots, spread invasive plants, block water from soaking in, and change drainage on the slope. Roots and shrubs help hold the bank. A healthy ravine, in that guide, shows no dumped piles.

Orders, fines, and a possible TRCA permit

Unauthorized dumping or a grade change can lead to a restoration order and a fine. Section 658-11 requires a person who dumps fill or refuse, or alters the grade, in a protected area without a permit, or against a permit condition, to remove the material, regrade, and restore the site to its original condition to the General Manager's satisfaction. Section 658-10 allows an officer to order the activity to stop and to order that corrective work. If it is not done, section 658-13 allows the City to do the work and recover the cost, including by adding it to the tax roll.

Section 658-12 sets the fine range. These are the minimums and maximums written in the bylaw, not a set-fine chart, and not a forecast of what a court will order in a given case. A conviction for injuring or destroying a tree in a protected area carries a minimum fine of $500 per tree and a maximum fine of $100,000. Any other offence carries a minimum fine of $500 and a maximum fine of $100,000. The chapter also provides for a special fine of $100,000. An offence under section 658-2B, the fill, refuse, and grade rule, is a continuing offence: a minimum fine of $500 and a maximum fine of $10,000 for each day or part of a day that it continues. This is not legal advice. Read Chapter 658 and confirm your own situation with the City.

Some RNFP land is also regulated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. The City's guide says a TRCA permit is a separate process, and that TRCA's area overlaps the ravine bylaw in many places. Chapter 658 lists grade changes inside a TRCA-regulated area as an exception to the City permit under section 658-2B. That exception does not cover tree injury, and it does not leave the slope unregulated. You may need the TRCA permit, the City permit, or both, depending on the work. Check before you move soil.

How to check before you clean up

Check the City's tree and ravine permit pages and the interactive map the property owner's guide cites at toronto.ca/interactive-toronto-map for the RNFP extent and the TRCA regulated area. Chapter 658 says the City Surveyor may plot the protected-area boundary on a plan, at the requester's expense. The bylaw PDF is at toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_658.pdf. The Property Owner's Guide to Healthy Ravines is at toronto.ca/data/parks/pdf/property-owners-guide-to-healthy-ravines.pdf. Permit steps, including City application fees, are at toronto.ca/services-payments/building-construction/tree-ravine-protection-permits/how-to-apply-for-a-tree-or-ravine-permit/.

When you are unsure, contact Urban Forestry before you move soil, stockpile fill, or place yard waste on a slope. The fence is not the boundary.

What it costs to haul the pile away

Junk 'Of' Urs hauls brush, branches, logs, and bagged yard waste that are already on the ground. The load leaves on the truck. We do not cut, trim, fell, or chip trees. If a limb is still attached, book an arborist first. We do not dump brush, leaves, or logs over a ravine edge, onto a neighbour's slope, or into the protected area. The service pages are at junkofurs.com/services/yard-debris-removal and junkofurs.com/junk-removal/toronto/yard-debris-removal. Ravine lots in Hoggs Hollow and York Mills are also on our North York page at junkofurs.com/junk-removal/north-york/yard-debris-removal.

Brush prices are all-in and include HST. The brush base is $89, which covers the call-out. A full brush load, about 9 cubic yards including the dump trip, adds $329. A minimum brush job, a few bundles at the curb up to about 1.5 cubic yards, is $149. Single-load jobs work out to $189 for a quarter load, $269 for a half load, $349 for three quarters, and $419 for a full load. The full-load total is the $89 base plus the $329 load charge, rounded up to the next price ending in 9, which is how the rate card states a single full load.

Logs, rounds, and other wood over 7.5 cm in diameter or 1.2 m long add $39 for each load that contains them. Toronto depots will not take those pieces as regular yard waste. Long carries are common on ravine lots in Rosedale, Hoggs Hollow and York Mills, Lawrence Park, and The Bridle Path, where the pile sits well back from the street. A carry of more than 25 metres from the truck adds $39 per brush load. A carry of more than 50 metres, or a carry through the house, adds $79 per brush load.

Send two photos from different angles with something for scale, a rough length, width, and height, and a photo of the path from the street to the pile, including any gate. The quote names how many loads it covers. If the job takes fewer loads, you pay less. Request it at junkofurs.com/quote.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Toronto ravine bylaw cover my whole lot?

Not always. Ravine and Natural Feature Protection boundaries follow natural features and topography, not property lines. A backyard can be in a protected area while the front yard is under the Private Tree Bylaw. Check the City's interactive map or ask Urban Forestry before you pile brush near the slope.

Can I dump my own leaves and branches into the ravine?

Dumping yard waste into a protected area is placing refuse, and section 658-2 requires a permit for that. Chapter 658 defines refuse to include leaves, branches, and logs that have not fallen naturally. The City's property owner's guide says to use collection or a backyard composter, and to bag invasive plants in black garbage bags.

What fines does Chapter 658 set for dumping or changing grade?

Section 658-12 sets a minimum fine of $500 and a maximum fine of $100,000 for an offence other than tree injury, and it also provides for a special fine of $100,000. Dumping fill or refuse, or altering grade, under section 658-2B is a continuing offence: a minimum of $500 and a maximum of $10,000 for each day or part of a day. The City can also order restoration. These are bylaw ranges, not a set-fine schedule. This is not legal advice.

Could I need a TRCA permit as well as a City permit?

You might. Some RNFP land is also in a Toronto and Region Conservation Authority regulated area, and that permit process is separate. Chapter 658 lists some grade changes inside a TRCA area as an exception to the City grade permit. Tree injury can still need the City's permission. Check both maps before you move soil.

Will you cut the tree or throw the brush down the slope?

No. Junk 'Of' Urs hauls brush and yard debris that are already on the ground. We do not cut, trim, fell, or chip trees, and we do not dump over a ravine edge. A minimum brush job is $149 all-in, HST included. Send photos at junkofurs.com/quote.