Ontario’s budget says it is increasing funding for the autism program to $779 million this year, but advocates say it’s not yet clear exactly where that money will go.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy’s budget, tabled Thursday, contains two lines on the Ontario Autism Program, including touting the new funding.
Children, Community and Social Services Minister Michael Parsa’s office has not yet offered details on how the money will be used, but the Ontario Autism Coalition fears it will not all go toward therapy for children.
Last year’s budget for the program was about $720 million, and autism coalition president Alina Cameron says while any increase in funding is welcome, previous boosts of about $60 million don’t seem to have made a huge difference in the wait list.
Figures obtained by the autism coalition through a freedom-of-information request show that as of early February, nearly 80,000 children and youth were registered to seek services through the program, but only about 20,000 had signed agreements to get core therapy funds.
NDP autism critic Alexa Gilmour says she wonders how much of the new funding is going to direct supports and how much is going toward administration, since the government has previously indicated the program is adding more staff.
