The scale of the crisis
$57.9M goes to administration while over 70,000 children wait for funded therapy.
Registered
88,175Children registered
Total in the Ontario Autism Program queue
CBC FOI Jan 2026
Funded
20,666Have active funding
Just 23.4% of registered children
CBC FOI Jan 2026
Waiting
67,509Still waiting
Registered. Diagnosed. Un-funded.
CBC FOI Jan 2026
Verified — CBC FOI Jan 2026
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Children registered | 88,175 |
| Have active funding | 20,666 |
| Still waiting | 67,509 |
AccessOAP is the front door to the Ontario Autism Program. When a family registers their child for publicly funded autism services, they go through AccessOAP. The system handles:
Enrolling children in the OAP after autism diagnosis
Determining needs-based funding levels through clinical evaluation
Matching families with OAP-approved service providers in their region
Administering Core Funding Agreements and setting funding amounts
Processing claims from service providers and managing disbursements
Contact AccessOAP: 1-833-425-2445 (toll-free)
AccessOAP is not run by the Ontario government. It is operated by a private consortium:
Subsidiary of the Ontario Dental Association (ODA). Originally created to administer dental benefit claims.
The province's primary autism advocacy and family support organization.
Provides clinical assessment frameworks and evidence-based evaluation tools.
Technology platform and contact centre operations for family-facing services.
Why this matters: The decision to delegate autism program intake to a dental administration company has been questioned by parents and advocates. The consortium structure means accountability is distributed across multiple private entities.
In 2023-24, AccessOAP operations cost $57.9 million — approximately 8.4% of total OAP spending of $691.2M. Here is how that compares:
AccessOAP costs more than the entire Entry to School Program and more than System Capacity Building and Foundational Family Services combined. This is approximately $660 per registered child per year spent on administration rather than therapy.
Because AccessOAP is operated by private entities, it is not directly subject to Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). This creates significant accountability gaps:
No FOI access: The public cannot file Freedom of Information requests about how AccessOAP spends its $57.9M annual budget.
No public reporting: There is no requirement for AccessOAP to publish operational efficiency metrics, staffing levels, or cost breakdowns.
FIPPA erosion risk: The IPC Commissioner has warned that proposed FIPPA amendments (Bill 212) could further reduce oversight of delegated public services.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has published findings warning about accountability gaps when public services are delivered by private entities exempt from FOI law.
Source for AccessOAP allocation figure of $57.9M
Consortium structure and contract details
FIPPA and delegated delivery accountability reports
Verified Facts
88,175 — children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program
23.4% — Only 20,666 children have active funding agreements () — less than one in four
$965M — Ontario allocated to the Ontario Autism Program in 2026-27
WHO recommends accessible, community-based early interventions for children with autism — timely evidence-based psychosocial interventions improve communication and social engagement