Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities (ACSD) in Ontario

Identity: gather citizenship or immigration-status proof for you and your child, your Ontario residency proof, and your child’s health card. Refugee claimants without an Ontario health card are exempt from the card requirement. Have your and your spouse’s Social Insurance Numbers ready, if applicable.

Medical: gather reports or assessments describing the disability and its effects on daily life.

Income: gather current CRA Notices of Assessment for you and your spouse, if applicable. Ontario Works and ODSP recipients do not need these notices. Gather the complete current Canada Child Benefit notice. If you lack an assessment or income changed substantially, provide current income details. You can still apply before filing taxes or receiving an assessment. If you do not receive CCB, the office follows up.

Where applicable: include custom-orthotics receipts. For direct deposit, attach a void cheque or pre-authorized deposit form. Complete the required consents.

Costs: estimate yearly extra disability-related expenses and keep receipts. Exclude costs funded by insurance or other programs. Follow the form’s category-specific rules.

Copy or print the blank record below for your own notes. Repeat a row for each expense. This planning aid does not calculate approval or replace Ontario’s application.

ACSD does not replace the Ontario Autism Program. Families waiting for OAP core clinical services can apply for ACSD in the meantime, and many do.

Children approved for ACSD may also get help with an assessment for an assistive device, and with the consumer contribution for a device supplied through the Assistive Devices Program.

The federal Child Disability Benefit is a different program with a different application. Getting one does not disqualify you from the other.

Approved families get a monthly amount. The ministry application form says funding is paid by direct deposit or cheque and encourages direct deposit.

The ontario.ca ACSD page does not publish a payment calendar, so we do not list payment dates. Check your approval letter or ACSD notice, or call your regional ministry office to confirm your payment date.

1. Choose the online application on Ontario’s ACSD program page, or get the paper form.

2. Fill it in for one child only. An online application can be saved for up to 90 days. Duplicate applications and incorrect documents cause delays.

3. Submit it online, or send the paper form with the required documents to your regional ministry office.

4. Contact your regional office to ask about your application. Ontario does not publish an ACSD processing time.

Ontario does not pay every approved family the same amount. The ministry sets your monthly payment using three things: the size of your family, how severe your child’s disability is, and the extraordinary costs you face because of that disability.

This is why two families with the same diagnosis can receive very different amounts. The top of the range is a ceiling, not a standard payment. Many families are assessed well below it.

The ACSD maximum is tied to inflation and adjusted every July. In July 2026 the maximum rose by 1.9%.

That increase applies to the maximum. It is not an across-the-board raise for everyone on the program. Because your amount is set by your family size, your child’s severity and your assessed costs, a higher ceiling does not automatically lift a payment that sits below it.

If you expected a larger increase and did not get one, that is the most common explanation. If your child’s needs or your disability-related costs have gone up, contact your local ministry regional office about a reassessment rather than waiting for the next July adjustment.

1. Government of Ontario

   Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities program eligibility and payment rules

2. Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services

   ACSD application form: documents, exceptions and disability-related expenses; read October 29, 2026. Regional offices provide application help and paper intake.