Ontario autism program now funding over 8,000 kids for core therapy

Documents show that as of mid-July there were 8,758 children whose families had a signed funding agreement for core therapy services. Enrolments were steadily rising.

TORONTO — The number of children with autism receiving publicly funded, needs-based core therapy in Ontario appears to have only now returned to the level it was at five years ago, before changes by the Progressive Conservative government upended the system, new figures suggest.

Documents obtained through a freedom-of-information request show that as of mid-July there were 8,758 children whose families had a signed funding agreement for core therapy services. Enrolments were steadily rising, the documents show, and that likely continued after July, though the government refused to provide current numbers.

Back in 2018-19, mostly before the Tories’ changes took effect, 10,365 children received needs-based services under the Ontario Autism Program, the province’s Financial Accountability Office reported.

That number then declined, as children aged out of the program and others were not being added in the same way when the government switched to a new funding model.

Alina Cameron, president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, which is organizing a protest Monday at the legislature, said she is “enraged” to see a lack of long-term progress in the new numbers.

“I can’t believe this few children have gotten through the gate,” she said in an interview.

“Early intervention is key. That’s the thing that’s drilled into your head as a parent when your child gets a diagnosis. Then you have a ministry who is dragging their feet getting this program up and running. It’s scary, because these children will never reach their full developmental potential in their lives because of these delays.”

In early 2019, Lisa MacLeod, then-minister of children, community and social services, announced an overhaul of the former Liberal government’s autism program.