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ACCOUNTABILITY
Bill 97 FIPPA amendments, delegated delivery opacity, and what the budget reveals about Ontario’s commitment to public accountability over autism program spending.
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Last updated:
In brief
Budget allocations are measured against the children still waiting.
Registered
91,974
91,974Children registered
Total registered in the Ontario Autism Program
Funded
20,711
20,711Have active funding
Only 22.5% of registered children
Without active agreement
71,263
71,263Without 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 |
1988
Records Retroactively Exempt
$57.9M
AccessOAP, Not Subject to FOI
$691.2M
OAP Spending With Limited Oversight
0
Auditor General Audits of AccessOAP
The Ontario government framed the Bill 97 FIPPA amendments as modernization. The Information and Privacy Commissioner disagreed.
Government: “These amendments modernize freedom of information for the digital age.”
IPC Commissioner Patricia Kosseim has expressed concern that the amendments would undermine the public’s right to access government records. In the Commissioner’s assessment, retroactively exempting ministerial briefing notes back to 1988 is about “hiding government-related business to evade public accountability.”
Government: “Delegated delivery is an efficient way to deliver autism services.”
FIPPA does not cover private operators like AccessOAP, which manages OAP intake and waitlist operations and administered $57.9M in 2023-24 (MCCSS FOI via The Trillium, July 2024). Families cannot FOI AccessOAP directly for records about their child’s waitlist position or service allocation decisions.
Government: “The public can still access information through existing channels.”
The retroactive exemption scope extends back to 1988, meaning records about foundational OAP policy decisions, ministerial briefings on autism program design, and draft funding models could all be withheld. Existing channels do not cover delegated operators.
Ontario’s autism program operates through a complex web of delegated delivery, private operators, and ministerial discretion. Transparency is the only mechanism families have to hold the system accountable.
The Ontario Budget 2026 was tabled on March 26. Here are the transparency indicators to evaluate:
FIPPA (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) is Ontario's law governing public access to government records. It matters for the budget because it is the primary mechanism through which citizens, journalists, and advocates can access records about how public money is spent, including the $691.2M allocated to the Ontario Autism Program.
Bill 97 (Plan to Protect Ontario Act), the 2026 omnibus budget bill, passed Third Reading on April 23, 2026 by a 57–33 vote. Its FIPPA amendments remove records of the Premier, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, and their offices from FIPPA's scope, and apply retroactively to 1988 — the year FIPPA took effect. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario opposed the changes, warning they remove decision-making records from public scrutiny.
Ontario's delegated delivery model channels autism funding through private operators like AccessOAP, which are not directly subject to FIPPA. Combined with the Bill 97 exclusion of ministerial-office records, families cannot access key documents about how funding decisions are made, why waitlist management strategies were chosen, or how AccessOAP's $57.9M contract is monitored.
Information and Privacy Commissioner Patricia Kosseim publicly opposed the Bill 97 FIPPA amendments, warning they would diminish the public's right to access government records. The Commissioner characterized the change as being about "hiding government-related business to evade public accountability" and urged the government to reconsider the breadth of the exclusion.
Dig deeper
Read our full analysis of how FOI gaps affect autism program accountability, or return to the Budget 2026 hub.
How many children are on the Ontario autism waitlist in 2026?
VerifiedAs of May 13, 2026, 91,974 children are registered with the Ontario Autism Program. However, only 20,711 (22.5%) have an active Core Funding Agreement. This represents ~300% growth in registrations since 2019, with 71,263 children still waiting for essential funding.
Source: MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026 · Open source record
Is the Ontario Autism Program underfunded?
VerifiedThe 2026-27 Ontario Budget allocated $965 million for autism services, up from $779 million in 2025-26, while 91,974 children are registered. The budget record supports the current allocation; the historical FAO funding model is cited separately.
Source: 2026-27 Ontario Budget · 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.
$965M
Ontario allocated $965M to the Ontario Autism Program in 2026-27
According to the FAO (2020 report), OAP funding covers less than one-third of estimated need at 2018-19 service levels
91,974
children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program