Ontario Budget 2026: Disability & ODSP

The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) provides a maximum of $1,408 per month for a single person — roughly 47% below the poverty line of $2,600/month. gov For people with disabilities who cannot work or face significant barriers to employment, this is the financial floor the province provides.

Since 2018, ODSP rates have received only modest increases that have been outpaced by inflation and the soaring cost of housing. The 5% increase announced in 2022 and the subsequent inflation indexing have not come close to closing the gap. A single person on ODSP is left with $1,232 less per month than what Statistics Canada defines as poverty. gov

Disability services beyond income support — attendant care, supportive housing, community participation, and respite — face their own funding shortfalls. Waitlists for supportive housing in Ontario can stretch 10 to 15 years, leaving families to provide care indefinitely without adequate supports.

The 2026 budget is an opportunity to begin closing this gap. Whether the government takes that opportunity — or continues incremental adjustments that leave people in poverty — will define disability policy in Ontario for years to come.

Disability funding and the autism waitlist are not separate issues — they are two chapters of the same story. Right now, 88,175 children are registered with the Ontario Autism Program. Of those, 67,509 are waiting for funded services. foi

Many of these families are already navigating the disability system. Parents who have left the workforce to provide full-time care may themselves rely on ODSP. Single-parent households with autistic children face compounding financial pressures: no funded therapy, inadequate income support, and years-long waits for respite services.

The downstream consequences are even more stark. When children with autism do not receive early intervention during the critical developmental window, they are more likely to require intensive adult supports. Research consistently shows that every $1 invested in early intervention saves $7-$11 in lifetime costs pub — costs that ultimately show up on the ODSP caseload. budget

The 2026 budget has an opportunity to address both ends of this pipeline: fund early intervention now to reduce the flow of young adults onto ODSP, and increase ODSP rates for those already in the system. Doing one without the other perpetuates the cycle.