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March 30, 2026
CBC Toronto's Enterprise Unit obtained government progress reports through freedom-of-information law and featured End The Wait Ontario in its investigation.
In brief
Independent reporting confirms the data families have long reported.
Registered
91,97491,974Children registered
Total registered in the Ontario Autism Program
Funded
20,71120,711Have active funding
Only 22.5% of registered children
Without active agreement
71,26371,263Without an active funding agreement
An administrative status; it does not confirm current service delivery.
Verified , MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Children registered | 91,974 |
| Have active funding | 20,711 |
| Without an active funding agreement | 71,263 |
Attribution: This page summarizes coverage by CBC News published March 30, 2026, by reporters Nicole Brockbank and Angelina King of CBC Toronto's Enterprise Unit. Read the full article on CBC.ca.
CBC News reviewed Ontario Autism Program progress reports obtained through a freedom of information request. Reporters Nicole Brockbank and Angelina King found that registrations kept growing while access to core funding remained limited.
Registrations Kept Growing
Current program data shows 91,974 children registered as of May 2026. CBC reported that registrations rose throughout the records it reviewed.
Funded Numbers Actually Dipped
CBC found several reporting periods when the number of active funding agreements fell even as more children registered.
Only 22.5% Funded
Current program data shows 20,711 of 91,974 registered children have active funding agreements.
As reported by Nicole Brockbank and Angelina King for CBC News on March 30, 2026, Deny registered her son, Nico, in the program. She told CBC that he was still waiting for core services funding when the article was published.
The same CBC report says Alina Cameron and her daughter, Fiona, also waited for funding. Cameron told CBC that receiving consistent core services later helped her family.
Early intervention is key.
CBC News featured End The Wait Ontario as a resource created by founder Spencer Carroll to bring together data and tools for parents dealing with the system. CBC reported that his family has paid privately for services while waiting for government funding.
Only through accountability can we see whether or not these funds are being deployed responsibly.
CBC reported that the Ontario government announced new OAP funding in the 2026 budget, bringing annual funding to $965M. The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services said access to core clinical services had grown under the government.
Government Response (via CBC News)
The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services told CBC News that under their government the number of kids in core clinical services has tripled. The ministry also noted that foundational family services, urgent response services, caregiver mediated early years programs, and the entry to school program are accessible for all registered families.
According to the CBC News article, when CBC asked why there are periods where funded numbers decrease, the ministry's statement did not address the question about funding dips.
Cameron of the Ontario Autism Coalition responded that last year's increase did not move the needle on the core wait list, and called for the province to commit all new funding to families for core clinical services. She said the low share of registered children with access to core funding was troubling.
Published by CBC News, March 30, 2026, by Nicole Brockbank and Angelina King. CBC Toronto Enterprise Unit. Read the full article on CBC.ca
End The Wait Ontario has tracked OAP registration data using records obtained through Freedom of Information requests filed by the Ontario Autism Coalition (December 2025) and CBC News (January 2026). CBC's January 7, 2026 column recorded 88,175 registered and 20,666 with active funding; the current column (MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026) records 91,974 registered and 22.5% funded — the same growing gap between registrations and service delivery. Our Data Hub provides the full picture with interactive charts and FOI source documents.
Next Day Follow-Up
March 31, 2026, Spencer Carroll interviewed live on CBC Radio One about his son's wait for autism services. Aired to Ottawa's political and public service audience.
Listen to the interviewThe Trillium, Budget Response
March 27, 2026, Sneh Duggal
Read coverageThe Trillium, Profile
March 25, 2026, Sneh Duggal
Read coverageLegal Action
Spencer Carroll's application to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario challenges the OAP waitlist as systemic disability discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
HRTO Case Disclaimer
The legal claims in Carroll v. Ontario (HRTO 2025-62264-I) involve specific individual circumstances and are distinct from the general advocacy positions expressed on this website. This case alleges that wait times during documented critical developmental windows may constitute discrimination under Ontario's Human Rights Code.
Take Action
91,974 children registered (as of May 2026). 71,263 without a funding agreement. 77.5% in that same position. CBC News found that the funded share remained low across the reports it reviewed.
What did CBC News find about the Ontario autism waitlist in 2026?
VerifiedCBC News reviewed 18 months of bi-weekly OAP progress reports obtained via FOI (Jun 2024 – Jan 2026). The latest verified figures show 91,974 children registered as of May 2026 with only 20,711 receiving funding — still under 25%. Registrations jumped 21% since mid-2024. In some periods, funded children decreased while hundreds more registered.
Source: CBC News Investigation, Mar 30, 2026 · Open source record
Has End The Wait Ontario been featured in CBC News?
VerifiedYes. CBC News featured End The Wait Ontario and founder Spencer Carroll in a March 30, 2026 investigation into the Ontario autism waitlist. Carroll was quoted calling for greater transparency and accountability: "Only through accountability can we see whether or not these funds are being deployed responsibly." The article highlighted the site as a comprehensive resource for affected parents.
Source: CBC News, Mar 30, 2026 · Open source record
Are children losing Ontario autism funding while the waitlist grows?
VerifiedCBC's FOI data revealed that in at least six bi-weekly reporting periods, the number of children with active funding agreements decreased even as registrations grew. In one summer 2025 period, 151 children lost funding while 456 new children registered in the same two weeks. The Ontario Autism Coalition attributes this to children aging out faster than new enrollments are processed.
Source: CBC News FOI Investigation, Mar 30, 2026 · Open source record
Sources on this page
Key claims are paired with their source, evidence tier, and verification date so readers can inspect the public record directly.
91,974
children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program
22.5%
Only 20,711 children have active funding agreements (22.5%), less than one in four
OAP registrations jumped 21% since mid-2024, with the number of funded children dipping in some periods despite hundreds more registering
$965M
Ontario allocated $965M to the Ontario Autism Program in 2026-27
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Founder & Autism Advocate