What lessons were learned after City Hall wasted $1.3 million developing computer software it will never use?

City councillors lamented a $1.3-million project meant to develop computer software, which staff admit they will never use.

Following a lengthy confidential discussion behind closed doors, councillors on the Community and Protective Services (CAPS) Committee were restrained in their criticism of the Housing Collaborative Initiative (HCI) that saw the City Hall spend over a decade and $1.3 million developing computer software that London will never use.

“I’m disappointed,” admitted Coun. Hadleigh McAlister. “In terms of the amount of time and money that’s gone into this [and] not ending up with a final product.”

In 2011, Civic Administration decided that London would lead an eight-community partnership dubbed the Housing Collaborative Initiative (HCI) to develop a custom-made software package for social housing administrators.

The software was intended to manage community housing waitlists, rent supplements, provide a portal for housing providers, and provide reporting tools to simplify annual reporting to the province.

In 2023, after an eight-year gap in progress reports to council about the initiative, city staff admitted numerous problems had been encountered during the software’s development by a consultant.

On Monday, city staff pointed to the structure of the partnership as a mistake that won’t be repeated.

“The complexity of having those six or seven municipalities over the time, that is the key component that has challenged this project,” said Matt Feldberg, director of Municipal Housing and Industrial Development. “At various points there were decisions made by the group that may not have been in the best interest of London, but they were in the best interest of the HCI.”

Civic Administration added that the individuals overseeing the project prior to 2023 are no longer employed by the city, so they were unable to answer several questions about what went wrong a decade ago and why council wasn’t notified earlier.

Coun. Susan Stevenson said she wants the matter forwarded to the Governance Working Group for a more fulsome discussion about how to implement guardrails that would prevent similar mistakes in the future.

“I think there’s a piece for Civic Administration. I think there’s a piece for council to put into policy, boundaries that will protect the finances of taxpayers in the City of London going forward,” Stevenson told the CAPS Committee.

She intends to bring a motion to the Council meeting on Nov. 25.

In November 2023, city council directed staff to close out the municipality’s financial obligations related to the initiative.

But two-and-a-half years later, London remains a member of the HCI group.

The report explains, “… the City formally notified HCI in October 2025 of its intention to withdraw from the Consortium and end its relationship with AIG (the software developer). As stipulated in the Master Services Agreement (MSA), a six-month written notice is required, with the withdrawal taking effect in April 2026.”

Concerns raised about the HCI project in 2023:

• The IT Department warned that the software development did not align with current technology and project management processes
• Regulatory changes since software development began meant “even if industry project management best practices were followed this project would have required significant change requests whenever new legislation was changed.”
• Collaborating with a large group of municipalities with different systems and priorities can be extremely challenging when creating a custom software product