Does OAP funding cover social skills groups?

Clinician-led social skills groups can be purchased with OAP funding, and Foundational Family Services — free for registered OAP families — sometimes include group-format programming. Social skills groups in Ontario are delivered by psychologists, behaviour analysts, and social workers. Check how the specific group you are considering is delivered and billed.

What should I look for in any social skills group?

Look for groups that use a manualized curriculum (like PEERS or Secret Agent Society), have trained facilitators, match participants by age and skill level, include parent training, and measure progress with standardized tools. Ask the provider about their curriculum, group size, facilitator credentials, and how they track outcomes.

How do I choose between Durham providers?

Start with the OAP lead for your area — Grandview Kids for Durham Region — and ask about Core Clinical skill-building groups, Foundational Family Services, and Caregiver-Mediated Early Years programs as fits your child’s age. Then compare what each provider currently offers against the quality checklist above. Wait times and group start dates vary by program and season.

REGIONAL COMPARISON

Public information

Durham Region Social Skills Programs Compared

Durham Region families access social skills programming mainly through the OAP-D partnership — Grandview Kids (Ajax, with satellites across Durham), Kinark, Lake Ridge, and Canopy — plus private clinician-led groups using curricula like Secret Agent Society and PEERS. Here is how the options compare, and what to ask before you enroll.

Grandview Kids

OAP lead for Durham Region

SAS & PEERS

Evidence-based curricula

OAP-eligible

Clinician-led group funding

Quick summary

Grandview Kids is the OAP lead for Durham Region (Ajax main campus; Bowmanville, Port Perry, Whitby, Oshawa satellites)
Kinark, Lake Ridge (Whitby), and Canopy also deliver OAP programming reaching Durham families
Manualized curricula — Secret Agent Society (ages 8–12) and PEERS — have moderate RCT evidence
Schedules, fees, and current group offerings change: confirm with each provider before enrolling

Who delivers social skills programming in Durham Region?

Durham Region autism services are organized through the OAP-D partnership. According to this site's provider directory:

Grandview Kids — OAP lead, Durham Region

Grandview Kids delivers Core Clinical ABA (which can include skill-building groups), Caregiver-Mediated Early Years programs (Social ABCs, Project ImPACT, PLAY Project), Entry to School, and Urgent Response Services as part of the OAP-D Partnership. Its main campus is in Ajax, with satellite locations in Bowmanville, Port Perry, Whitby, and Oshawa.

Kinark Autism Services delivers the OAP suite across York Region, Durham Region, and Simcoe County; Lake Ridge Community Support Services (Whitby) partners with Grandview Kids and RFECY in the OAP-D network; Canopy Support Services reaches Durham alongside Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton.

Fail-closed notice. This site does not publish current group schedules, fees, or start dates for any Durham provider — those change with each intake cycle. Everything below describes program structure and evidence; confirm current offerings directly with providers.

What does the evidence say about social skills groups?

Social skills group therapy gives autistic children and adolescents structured peer interaction where they practise conversation, cooperation, perspective-taking, and friendship skills with guided support. Programs like PEERS (UCLA) and Secret Agent Society have moderate evidence from randomized controlled trials. Evidence varies by goal, method, population, and outcome.

Secret Agent Society (SAS)

Developed by Dr. Renae Beaumont, SAS uses a spy-themed computer game and group activities to teach emotion recognition, regulation, and social problem-solving to autistic children aged 8–12. A 2015 RCT published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry showed significant improvements in social-emotional functioning maintained at five-month follow-up.

PEERS

PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills), from UCLA, is a manualized parent-assisted social skills program, particularly for adolescents. It is one of the curricula this site lists among Ontario providers' social skills specialties (e.g. PEERS for Adolescents at Kerry's Place).

See our full Social Skills Groups evidence page for study detail, including the SAS trial citation.

How do Durham options compare?

Option	OAP programs	Where	Social skills offer
Grandview Kids (OAP lead, Durham)	Core Clinical ABA incl. skill-building, CMEY, Entry to School, URS	Ajax (main); Bowmanville, Port Perry, Whitby, Oshawa satellites	Skill-building groups within OAP programs — ask about current curriculum
Kinark Autism Services	Core Clinical, Foundational Family Services, CMEY, Entry to School	York Region, Durham Region, Simcoe County	Foundational Family Services may include group formats — ask provider
Lake Ridge Community Support Services	Core Clinical ABA, Foundational Family Services, CMEY, URS support	Whitby (OAP-D partnership with Grandview Kids and RFECY)	OAP-D network programming — ask provider
Canopy Support Services	Core Clinical (incl. skill-building groups), CMEY, URS, social work	Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, Durham, Haliburton	Lists skill-building groups among Core Clinical offerings — ask provider
Private / clinician-led groups	Psychologist-, behaviour analyst-, or social worker-led groups	Various, incl. Oshawa and GTA East	May use PEERS or Secret Agent Society — ask which curriculum and evidence base

What should you ask before enrolling?

Which manualized curriculum does the group use (PEERS, Secret Agent Society, or another) — and what is its evidence base?
Who facilitates, and what are their credentials (psychologist, behaviour analyst registered with CPBAO, social worker)?
How are participants matched by age and skill level, and what is the group size?
Does the program include parent training and generalize skills to home and school?
How is progress measured — are standardized tools used and shared with you?
How is it funded — OAP Core Clinical funding, free Foundational Family Services, or private fee?

Frequently Asked Questions

Durham Region autism services run through the OAP-D partnership. Grandview Kids is the OAP lead for Durham Region, with a main campus in Ajax and satellites in Bowmanville, Port Perry, Whitby, and Oshawa; Kinark delivers across York, Durham, and Simcoe; Lake Ridge Community Support Services (Whitby) and Canopy Support Services also deliver OAP programs reaching Durham families. Availability of specific social-skills groups changes with intake — confirm current offerings with each provider.

Secret Agent Society (SAS) is an evidence-based social skills curriculum used by Ontario providers — this site lists it among the specialties of Kerry’s Place Autism Services, which serves regions adjacent to Durham. Whether a SAS group is currently running in Durham itself depends on provider intake; ask OAP-D providers in Durham which manualized curriculum (SAS, PEERS, or another) their groups use.

Explore Durham Region services

See the regional picture for Durham and York, the Oshawa service page, and the full social skills evidence guide.

Durham & York Region Guide Social Skills Evidence Guide

Data Sources

Durham providers: End The Wait Ontario provider directory (Grandview Kids, Kinark, Lake Ridge, Canopy, Kerry's Place entries)
Curriculum evidence: Social skills group therapy evidence summary incl. Beaumont et al., Secret Agent Society RCT, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(1), 58-67
Ontario waitlist figures: MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026 (MCCSS)

Verified References & Sources

Updated: Mar 2026

Government Reports & Data

[2023]
Exclusion of Students With Disabilities — 2023 SurveyVerified FAO Data
Community Living Ontario • Report • 2023-10-01
View
[2024]
Inclusion Without Proper Support Is AbandonmentVerified FAO Data
Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario • Report • 2024-06-01
View
[2020]
Autism ServicesVerified FAO Data
Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) • Report • 2020-07-21
View
[2024]
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services: Spending Plan ReviewVerified FAO Data
Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) • Report • 2024-06-05
View
[2026]
Ontario Autism Program figures as of May 13, 2026 (MCCSS, released under Freedom of Information to the Ontario Autism Coalition; published in the OAC "OAP At A Glance" update, July 2026)Verified FAO Data
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (Ontario), obtained by the Ontario Autism Coalition • Report • 2026-05-13
View

Take Action

Where the waitlist stands

Families navigating autism services in Ontario face a documented multi-year wait. Here is the Ontario data — and a two-minute way to push back, when you are ready.

See where the waitlist stands Email Your MPP

MCCSS bi-weekly OAP Core Clinical Services progress reports (FOI release CSS2026-0749). Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (Ontario) (March 2026)
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services: Spending Plan Review (2024). Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (2024)

About This Article

Written by Spencer Carroll

Founder & Autism Advocate

Parent of autistic child navigating OAP system

Evidence on this page

The source chain stays visible.

Key claims are paired with their source, evidence tier, and verification date so readers can inspect the public record directly.

Facts3

Sources3

91,974

children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program

Government / peer-reviewedMCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026Verified 2026-08-10

According to the FAO (2020 report), OAP funding covers less than one-third of estimated need at 2018-19 service levels

Government / peer-reviewedFinancial Accountability Office of Ontario (2020)Verified 2020-07-21

WHO recommends accessible, community-based early interventions for children with autism. Timely evidence-based psychosocial interventions improve communication and social engagement

Government / peer-reviewedWorld Health Organization (2023)Verified 2023-11-15

Last system verification: 2026-08-10. Next scheduled update: 2026-11-05.

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