CityHousing Hamilton (CHH), the City of Hamilton’s social housing agency, reported a net surplus of $1,690,867 for 2024, missing its targeted surplus of $5,667,286 by nearly $4 million.
The substantial shortfall was primarily driven by a $4.3-million overexpenditure on security, waste removal, and grounds maintenance, coupled with lower-than-anticipated resident rent collections and financial losses linked to the City of Hamilton’s cybersecurity failure.
CHH collected $2.46 million less in resident rent than projected, according to the 2024 audited statements. The agency was also forced to write off $731,802 in bad debts, exceeding the budget forecast by $300,623.
KPMG Auditor Daniel Glasbergen attributed part of the increase in rent arrears and higher depreciation to the City’s cybersecurity failure. The resulting system outages caused delays in receiving payments from tenants throughout the year.
“That’s the main rationale for why we see a drop in cash, and also the corresponding increase in receivable,” Glasbergen stated. “Throughout 2024, some delay in receipt of payments from tenants” contributed to the cash shortfall.
CHH’s tenant receivable amount at year-end 2024 stood at $7,499,182, while the agency’s cash balance declined by $13 million compared to the start of the year.
Staffing costs were $1,076,901 below budget due primarily to gapping, while commercial rental revenue exceeded forecast by $101,245 after the Shoppers Drug Mart at 181 Main Street West extended its lease.
CHH Passes with Clean Audit, First City of Hamilton Entity to Achieve this for 2024
Despite pressures resulting from losing date in the cybersecurity failure, CityHousing Hamilton received a clean audit for 2024, with the auditor identifying no concerns.
The designation makes CHH the first City of Hamilton entity to achieve a clean audit for 2024.
CityHousing Hamilton citizen board member Adriana Baker publicly commended staff for the achievement. “The fact that they went through cyber, that we lost a significant amount of data and managed to come out with a clean audit is something amazing,” Baker stated.
The audit does not mention the the March 2024 incident in which CHH wired $552,000 to a fraudster, who claimed to be a legitimate vendor.
The audit could not be formally approved due to a lack of quorum at the special meeting. Councillors Cameron Kroetsch, Tom Jackson, and Alex Wilson were absent, while Councillors Nrinder Nann and Tammy Hwang were present.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: November 8, 2025
Last updated: November 8, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version