In September 2017, BC Housing and Atira jointly initiated a financial review of Atira using BDO as the external consultant. The review scope was focused on addressing some outstanding issues related to Atira budgets for fiscal years ending March 31, 2012 to March 31, 2018. While the review was underway, approval was deferred for the budget items that were under review.

A draft report dated Nov. 7, 2018 produced by BDO found a potential $1 million funding shortfall. BC Housing’s board made the decision for BC Housing’s Internal Audit team to work with Atira and BDO to finalize the audit and confirm the outstanding amount. That work concluded that Atira had been underfunded by $686,264 over several years. The final amount was agreed to by BC Housing and Atira, and those funds were then released.

The recommendations in the draft BDO report were reviewed and appropriately addressed by Atira and BC Housing. BC Housing and Atira have since implemented new communication protocols designed to share information regularly and aid in improving financial reporting and record keeping.