More than 60,000 children in Ontario remain on the waitlist for Core Clinical Services (CCS), including Occupational Therapy, Speech Language Pathology, Mental Health Therapies and, significantly, the most effective and requested therapies based on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA).
Over the past 25 years, autism prevalence has surged from one in 200 Canadian children to one in 50. Despite billions allocated for autism services, many families are still waiting – sometimes for years. Those with resources pay out of pocket, while some, desperate for care, have even relinquished custody of their children to access services.
The Ontario Autism Program (OAP) has a $723 million budget for 2024-2025 after a one time $120-million supplement.. However, the question remains: Are we investing in solutions that work, or merely throwing money at the problem?
Ontario’s approach to autism funding has been marred by inefficiencies (e.g., 32 per cent of OAP funding currently goes to bureaucracy). It has not ensured that funding is directed to the programs that yield the best results. While almost 60 per cent of children receiving funding are enrolled in CCS, less than half (45 per cent) of the OAP budget is allocated to services that have been demonstrated to yield long-lasting benefits in child development, communication and behaviour.
Instead, hundreds of millions of dollars are funneled into short-term, expensive programs like the Urgent Response Service (URS). While these programs may provide immediate relief for some families in crisis due to their children’s challenging behaviour, they are not designed to address long-term developmental needs. Without sustained intervention, many who receive short-term support regress, ultimately requiring more intensive – and more expensive – care down the line.
This is not just a failure of policy; it is a failure of conscience and of priorities. We have the evidence to show that CCS, particularly individualized, needs-based, ABA-based interventions, provide meaningful, lasting improvements in children’s skill development, behaviour and independence.
To fix Ontario’s autism services, we should redirect resources toward programs that have been proven to work. That means:
– Prioritizing CCS over short-term, high-cost programs that do not offer sustainable benefits.
– Implementing cost-efficiency measures, such as reducing the exorbitant costs of some current short-term programs, to make more funding available for CCS.
– Re-investing in evidence-based behavioural and communication-based early intervention for newly diagnosed toddlers and preschool children to prevent behavioural problems from arising.
– Ensuring continuity of care, so children transitioning out of early intervention programs continue to progress and succeed in school to the best of their abilities.
– Promoting training in autism and evidence-based practices in university-based professional programs, like OT, Speech-language, Psychology and Education to increase the number of service providers to meet growing clinical and school-based needs of autistic children.
– Reallocating administrative costs – with 32 per cent of OAP funding currently going to bureaucracy, we must ensure resources are spent on children, not red tape.
The Ontario government has more than tripled autism funding since 2007, but the need has increased far more than that. Funding allocated for Individualized OAP per family simply has not kept up with the growing demand nor meets the needs of many children. Without strategic allocation, these investments will not yield the outcomes families deserve. We have a choice: Continue spending on short-term programs with questionable outcomes or invest in solutions that deliver measurable, lasting impact.
This is about more than just funding – it is about building a system that works for families, prioritizes early intervention and evidence-based care, and delivers better long-term outcomes for children with autism.
Ontario has the resources. Now, we must use them wisely, ensuring no family is left waiting in desperation.
This article has been updated.
