(Canada) Fewer than one in four kids on Ontario’s autism waitlist received services; 5 yr wait

July 8, 2026, ‘It’s cruel’: Less than a quarter of waitlisted children and youth receiving autism funding - Midland News

Fewer than one in four kids and youth on Ontario’s autism waitlist received funding for behavioural, speech and mental health services in recent years, new data shows.

A maximum of 24 per cent of waitlisted children and youth were receiving what are known as core clinical services between April 2022 and March 2024, according to provincial quarterly reports obtained through the freedom of information system by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU).

That figure stood at 23 per cent as of March 4, according to provincial stats obtained by the Ontario Autism Coalition (OAC).

Accerta, the company Ontario contracted to handle program intake starting in April 2022, fell well short of its targets for those receiving core clinical services, according to the data.

At least 8,000 children and youth were supposed to be receiving services by the end of 2022, according to the company’s agreement with the province. The actual number was just 2,348.

By the end of March 2023, the figure was supposed to hit 13,000, but stood at just 5,641. One year later, 20,000 children and youth should have been getting services, but only 15,512 were.

Ontario’s contract with Accerta is set to expire on July 31, according to its initial agreement in November 2021. . . .

Average waits for core clinical services now top five years, meaning kids are missing out on critical early intervention, according to a community survey done by the OAC last year. . . .

The Ford government increased Ontario Autism Program funding by $186 million this year to $965 million. But funding still hasn’t kept up with the number of kids on the waitlist, which advocates estimate has quadrupled since 2019. . . .