Land Clearing Services in Courtenay
We tell you which trees can come down, which ones need a permit, and where the stumps and slash go — before the saws start.
Courtenay Excavating clears acreages and infill lots across Cumberland, Merville and Black Creek — brush, stumps and standing vegetation off your lot so it can be surveyed, graded and built on. We check the Tree Protection and Management Bylaw No. 2850 thresholds before the first tree comes down, because a 20 cm trunk can trigger a permit even on a small lot. Clearing commonly runs $3,000 to $10,000 an acre.
Land clearing in the Comox Valley commonly runs $3,000 to $10,000 an acre, and higher on steep or heavily treed ground. Land clearing costs depend on tree density, stump size, hauling distances and whether wood waste gets chipped on site or trucked away. A tree cutting permit under Bylaw No. 2850 costs $100, or $500 on lots over 4,000 m², and a hazardous tree permit carries no fee. These are planning ranges; your clearing quote comes after we walk the lot.
Clearing is usually the first time a Comox Valley project runs into a regulator. We can review your tree permit requirements before work starts, but you need to check rules before cutting down any tree.
What Bylaw No. 2850 actually requires
Under Courtenay's tree bylaw, you need a permit to cut any tree over 20 cm in diameter at chest height or any of six protected species: Garry oak, arbutus, Pacific dogwood, western white pine, Pacific yew, and trembling aspen. Standard permit applications cost $100, while properties larger than 4,000 m² pay a $500 fee. You must also provide a $300 deposit per replacement tree and a $1,000 security deposit for each protected species kept safe during construction.
Tree permit fees run $100 for basic lots and $500 on parcels over 4,000 m², alongside a $300 replacement security per tree and a $1,000 security deposit per protected species. A permit for a genuinely hazardous tree carries no fee. If the city denies your cutting permit, you may need to replant trees or pay into the city's tree replacement fund.
Outside Courtenay city limits, CVRD Building Services and regional electoral area bylaws set the rules for land clearing. We check which jurisdiction your property actually sits in before anything else. A Courtenay mailing address does not mean you are inside the City of Courtenay.
Clearing on ALR and rural land
A large share of the flat, clearable land in the Comox Valley sits inside the Agricultural Land Reserve, particularly through Merville, Black Creek, and the Puntledge–Black Creek electoral area. Clearing itself is generally a farm activity, but the moment soil is removed or fill is brought in, the Agricultural Land Commission becomes involved.
You must submit a Notice of Intent to the Agricultural Land Commission 60 days before moving fill or soil, along with a $150 fee. The commission then reviews the request within 60 days to issue an approval, request details or halt activity. That timeline is the most common scheduling surprise on rural projects here — a two-day clearing job can sit behind a two-month approval.
Stump and slash disposal is the other rural variable. Chipping and spreading on site is usually cheapest where the ground can absorb it. Hauling to a facility is priced by volume and distance, and volume is exactly what a stump has most of.
Working near water and on steep ground
Clearing close to the Courtenay, Puntledge, or Tsolum rivers, or any of the valley's smaller creeks, means riparian protection applies too, on top of the tree bylaw. Provincial riparian laws require an assessment by an environmental professional before you disturb land or clear trees near streams and wetlands.
This leaves a protected vegetated buffer along the water edge. If we map your build area around riparian buffers early, you avoid costly replanting orders after clearing starts.
Once you're on a slope, the concern moves from regulation to stability. Removing root mass from a Quadra Sand bank takes away the only thing holding the face together, so erosion control has to go in as clearing comes out.
How a lot gets cleared
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Walk the lot and identify what is protected — Species, diameter, lot size, and proximity to a watercourse all change what is allowed. Courtenay's tree bylaw protects six specific tree species and requires a permit for any tree over 20 cm in diameter at chest height. On lots larger than 4,000 m², the application fee increases from $100 to $500.
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Apply where a permit is triggered — A tree cutting permit runs $100, or $500 on lots over 4,000 m². Replacement and protection securities may apply per tree. A hazardous tree permit carries no fee.
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Fell, limb, and separate material — Merchantable wood, chipable brush, and stumps get separated on the way down. We sort the material as it comes out, which keeps your disposal cost predictable.
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Grub stumps and restore grade — We pull stumps and root balls rather than burying them, because organics left under a future building settle for years. We leave the ground at a workable grade for site preparation.
Local conditions
The Comox Valley's clearable ground splits neatly. Sandy Quadra deposits through Merville and Black Creek clear fast and grub easily, but hold their shape only while roots are in them. Wet till and river silt lots hold heavy water and rut under machinery, especially between October and April when most of our 1,400 mm of annual rainfall arrives.
People also ask
Does every tree removal in Courtenay need a permit?
No. Courtenay's tree permit requirement triggers when cutting a tree over 20 cm across at chest height or any of six protected species, regardless of lot size. A smaller city lot with a small, common-species tree outside a sensitive area is often exempt. Confirming with the City of Courtenay before you fell is still cheaper than a penalty afterward.
What happens to the stumps?
We grub stumps out and either chip them, haul them to a facility, or in rural cases pile them for later disposal. Don't bury stumps in a future building footprint — the organics break down and the ground on top settles for years.
How much land can be cleared in a day?
On open, sandy ground with light stem density, we can clear an acre a day. Heavy second growth, large stumps, wet till, or a long haul for slash can cut that to a quarter acre. Access for a chipper and a truck matters as much as machine size.
Is a permit needed to clear ALR land?
Clearing for farm use generally does not need Commission approval, but placing fill or removing soil does. That requires a Notice of Intent filed with the Agricultural Land Commission at least 60 days ahead, with a $150 fee, and the Commission has 60 days to respond.
Related: site preparation for what happens once the lot is bare, and the site prep permits guide for the full approval picture.
Start with the site details
Send us the address, scope, and rough timing — that's enough for your first range. Drawings help but you don't need them.