The Fire Department Annual Report, an Updated Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Plan, and an update on the City’s child care expansion.
The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday inside Council Chambers. (Here are the links for the agenda, and the YouTube live stream.)
Fire Department Annual Report
The City’s 2024 annual fire department report lacks most of the details due to the loss of data resulting from the City’s February 2024 cybersecurity failure. Essential fire department systems were not separated from the City’s IT infrastructure and the fire department had to revert to manual dispatch methods.
There were four (4) fire deaths in 2024 and 24 civilian fire injuries.
Hamilton Fire responded to “500+ fires: 300+ structure fires, 200+ non-structure fires.”
Fire Chief Dave Cunliffe wrote in the annual report: “Unfortunately, due to the impacts of the cybersecurity incident, we were unable to fully recover lost data, or collect comprehensive new data for the entire year in a format that would facilitate easy analysis. Nevertheless, there was enough data to illustrate that 2024 was a busy and
successful year. Case in point – we responded to 40,529 emergency incidents, nearly doubling the 21,160 incidents in 2023.”
Hamilton Fire resumed responding to many types of medical calls that they had paused responding to during the pandemic.
During the immediate aftermath of the cybersecurity failure, 2,689 calls were dispatched using manual methods. The City’s backup emergency response systems shared the same infrastructure and master passwords as the rest of the City’s IT infrastructure.
Affordable Child Care
Hamilton will receive less provincial funding than the City initially forecasted to support the expansion of affordable child care spaces in our city.
Hamilton currently has one affordable child care space available for every 2.7 children. The present access rate is 34 percent, and it is projected to reach 37 percent by the end of 2026.
Hamilton will receive $1.6-million to support capital costs of new non-profit child care spaces.
Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Plan 2025-2029
Municipalities in Ontario are required to update their Community Safety and Well-Being Plans by July 1st.
City Council is being asked to approve a plan with the following key focus areas: Truth and Reconciliation, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Community Engagement, Data and Evaluation, Sustainability, and System Collaboration.
The updated Plan will continue to address the six original priorities from the last plan: hate incidents, substance use, violence, housing and homelessness, mental health and stigma, and access to income.
The updated Plan can be read here.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: May 18, 2025
Last updated: May 18, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version