Ontario Spends $965 Million on Autism. 67,500 Children Are Still Waiting.

One of the first things Deny Soto was told after her nine-year-old son was diagnosed with autism in 2022 was “get on the list.” Four years later, he is still on it. “It’s just sad, because that was a critical part of his development,” the Toronto mother told CBC News. “We lost any support that we could have gotten during that time. So we’ve navigated it on our own.”¹

Soto’s son is one of more than 67,500 children with autism across Ontario waiting to access funding for core clinical services through the Ontario Autism Program. The total number of children registered has jumped 21% since mid-2024 to 88,175. Of those, only 20,666 — 23.4% — have an active funding agreement. Three-quarters of registered families have nothing.²

The province is not short on money. Ontario’s 2026 budget added $186 million in new funding to the autism program, bringing annual spending to $965 million — nearly $1 billion. Minister Michael Parsa said the “vast majority” would go to core services and that the program would “invite more and more families every day.”³

But the Ontario Autism Coalition has heard this before. “Last year’s increase didn’t move the needle on the core wait list at all,” said president Alina Cameron. The numbers confirm it. In 2024, 17,138 children had core funding. By the end of 2025, that rose by 3,500. But in the same period, 9,800 more children registered — meaning the waitlist grew faster than the program could serve it.⁴

Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office has determined that $1.35 billion per year is needed to serve all registered children at 2018-19 service levels. The 2026 budget falls $385 million short of that benchmark. That gap is the primary driver of the permanent waitlist.

The cruelty is in the timing. Every pediatric expert, every autism specialist, every clinician says the same thing: early intervention is the window that matters most. Applied behaviour analysis, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy — these services produce the strongest outcomes when children are young. The Ontario Autism Coalition’s survey found families wait an average of 5.2 years for core funding. By the time they reach the front of the line, the early developmental window has closed.⁵

Ronin / Unsplash — Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office says $1.35 billion per year is needed to serve all registered children. The 2026 budget allocated $965 million — leaving a $385-million annual shortfall.

“The first thing they tell you when your child is diagnosed is that early intervention is key,” Cameron said. “You wait 5.2 years for access to something that is ongoing and consistent — you missed the entire early developmental window.”

Cameron’s daughter Fiona was registered in 2017. She waited five years. She has now had funding for three years and the results have been transformative. “She started retaining information, and now we’re seeing speech development. She’s just like a totally new kid.” The question is how many children never get that chance.

For families who can afford it, the answer is to pay out of pocket. Spencer Carroll, an Ottawa father whose six-year-old son was diagnosed at 14 months, has been paying privately for nearly five years while waiting for government funding. His family has spent roughly $100,000. “We’re some of the few lucky ones that can afford it,” he said. Most cannot.⁶

The Ontario Autism Coalition found that 44% of autistic children have at least one parent or caregiver who cannot work because of the demands of care. Families are not just waiting for services — they are financially broken by the wait. Some have left the province entirely.

The government points to ancillary programs — foundational family services, urgent response services, caregiver mediated early years programs — that are available to all registered families. But NDP critic Alexa Gilmour called these “Band-Aids.” Families access urgent response for 12 weeks and then return to the core waitlist for years. “Families have told me over and over again that it is a bit of a hope killer,” Gilmour said. “They get into that program, they think it’s going to offer them something. They leave it more discouraged than ever.”⁷

British Columbia provides direct autism funding of up to $22,000 per year with minimal wait times. Quebec runs its own program. Ontario has the largest budget — and the longest wait. The problem is not the amount of money. It is where the money goes and how fast it reaches the children who need it.

Ontario is spending $965 million on its autism program — nearly $1 billion. The Financial Accountability Office says $1.35 billion is needed. The waitlist has grown 281% since 2019. Three-quarters of registered children have no funding agreement. The average wait is 5.2 years — the entire early intervention window. Families who can afford to pay privately spend six figures out of pocket. Families who cannot watch their children miss the developmental moments that do not come back. The government added $186 million this year. Last year’s increase “didn’t move the needle.” The number of children registering is growing faster than the number being served. And a child diagnosed today will not reach the front of the line until 2031. The money is being spent. The children are still waiting.