Cybersecurity Incident Response
City Phone Service Restoration Update
How to Contact the City
- Check Alternate Contacts: Please visit our Alternate Contact Information page for details on connecting with City departments.
- Direct Dial: You can call select City staff at 905-546-2424. This number provides extensions for staff and departments with fully restored phone service. Some departments may still experience intermittent phone connectivity.
- Customer Service Assistance: If you cannot connect with a department or staff member, contact the Customer Service Centre at 905-546-CITY (2489), available Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm (excluding holidays). Our team will assist in connecting you to the appropriate person or suggest alternative ways to reach them.
City Phone System Restoration
The City of Hamilton is making significant progress in restoring full phone service with the launch of virtual phone functionality. The cybersecurity incident, which struck the City on February 25, 2024, affected many of the City’s IT systems, including the telephone system, disrupting many staff extensions.
Telephone Lines
Call 546-CITY
The Customer Contact Centre has been operational since shortly after the incident and continues to take phone calls at 905-546-CITY (2489), providing information or relaying messages to staff.
Alternate Contact Information for most City services (where still needed) is available and regularly updated.
The City is progressing through the planned phone system upgrade to fully restore calling via direct extensions. Priority is being given to the extensions most used by the public, wherever possible.
This phased upgrade will take time before all extensions are fully accessible. Some departments will be reachable, while others will be restored in later phases.
Current List of Restored City Phone Services
This list will be updated as service areas are restored. If you find you cannot reach the person you wish to call, please contact the Customer Contact Centre at 905-546-CITY (2489) for assistance (available Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, excluding holidays)
Temporary Call Display Number
Currently, people receiving calls from the City will see the number 365-795-1414 appear on their call display. This is temporary, and we anticipate that by the end of 2024, the call display will be restored to show the regular City of Hamilton number. To return missed calls from this number, please call 905-546-CITY (2489) and provide the name of the person you are trying to reach.
About the Telephone Project
The Telephone Project involves the comprehensive reconstruction of our entire telephone services across the organization, covering infrastructure, physical assets, software procurement, and robust security protocols for the more than 5,000 City phone extensions. We thank residents and the community for their patience and understanding as we continue to work on fully restoring the City phone system to better serve you.