It is a beech, and young beeches can hold onto their leaves until new leaves push out, and IME beech leaves push out later than many. This is a beautiful tree, and I very much doubt that it is dead.

^^^ What she said :-)) There is a beech hedge at a property not far from me and even in my very mild winter climate, it looks exactly like the plant in the photo.

Oh, thank you both, I am so excited! It's alive ! I just googled beech trees and got confirmation about their habit. Great to know.

The spikey things are leaf buds. If you tear one open you’ll find green. That’s one way to find out if something is alive. Another method is to try to snap a twig by bending. Easy if the twig is dead. If it’s alive it’ll just bend. Both these methods are more reliable than scraping bark and looking for green imo.

I don't know anything about Beech trees, but I would have thought it was dead, too. It doesn't matter where you live or how long you've lived there, it would still look dead to me! I'm happy for you that there's a chance it's going to be okay.

That's a European Beech, too (Fagus sylvatica).

I would invest in a qualified and ISA certified arborist to give you a consult on that tree, for its long term care. From your pictures, it appears to have a tortured root conformation around the base of the trunk, and some obvious sunken/dead places on the trunk.

There could very well be some corrective action taken that could alter and extend the life of this plant, which is a great species to have in a landscape where it will have ample room to reach its large mature size.

There is more than just a chance it’s going to be OK. Young beech growth, such as is permanently present in a regularly cut hedge, always retains foliage in winter. This is an example of marcescence. Indeed that is one of the main reasons why it is used frequently for hedges. Hornbeam does the same. That tree is alive and well and acting naturally.

Beech hedge in March. Beginning to lose leaves as new buds swell.

Great, thank you all. I gather from the comments here that this is an alive beech tree, however with some problems in the trunk. ( That was actually why we thought that it had died). As one can see in the third last and the second last pics, the trunk on the left has smooth bark and is relatively straight, whereas the trunk on the right seems twisted and the bark is rough and it appears to be split. We are in zone 5, outside of Toronto, On, Canada

I wouldn’t worry about the gnarly trunk contortions. Beech will do that if hacked about. This isn’t a tree that’s going to fall on your house, provided you keep pruning it. However, since it is neither a proper hedge nor a specimen tree, it’s a curious choice of species for a shrub border.

Regardless if the tree will be fine. Are you sure you want a tree that can grow huge that close to your house? Seems like it might become a headache in a few decades.

The tree was planted by the previous owners, it is our first spring here and as vegetation starts to wake up again we are slowly learning what we actually have here. Good to know that this tree should be pruned or else it will grow out of hand, not good since it is on the border of a very large gazebo adjacent to the house. Would pruning be best late fall or early spring? I assume it is too late for this year ? Just noticed today that some of the top leave buds are turning silvery.