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Press kit

Everything you need to file, in one place.

Verified counts, source material, a named spokesperson, and downloadable assets for reporters covering Ontario autism services. As of May 13, 2026, 71,263 registered children had no active Core Funding Agreement.

Direct answer

Verified counts, source material, a named spokesperson, and downloadable assets for reporters covering Ontario autism services. As of May 13, 2026, 71,263 registered children had no active Core Funding Agreement. Administrative counts come from dated Freedom of Information releases. Community reports and ETWO calculations are attributed in their rows, with the limits stated beside the figure.

MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026 · Source Library · Verified 2026-08-10

COVERAGECBC · Ottawa Citizen · The TrilliumCITED BYOPSEU · CCRWLAST UPDATEDAugust 2026

Media reference

Clip featuring Spencer Carroll in a WHO reel

Date
October 29, 2025
Subject
Autism diagnosis and early intervention
Person
Spencer Carroll, founder, ETWO
Publisher
World Health Organization, official social media (@who)
Relationship
Media reference only. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or recognized by WHO.

On October 29, 2025, a clip featuring Spencer Carroll, founder of End The Wait Ontario, appeared in autism-related content published through the World Health Organization's official social-media channels. End The Wait Ontario is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or recognized by WHO.

Watch the clip and read the transcript Founder bio

Cleared for publication

Fast facts you can quote.

Administrative counts come from dated Freedom of Information releases. Community reports and ETWO calculations are attributed in their rows, with the limits stated beside the figure.

Source
MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026
As of
May 13, 2026
How every number is verified
Downloads oap-access-snapshot.csv in CSV format. The saved file name will be timestamped.
Fast facts you can quote. Each row links to the date, source and caveat record for that figure.
FigureMeaningSource record
91,974children registered for the Ontario Autism Program

MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026 · May 13, 2026

See date, source and caveat
71,263registered without an active funding agreement

MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026 · May 13, 2026

See date, source and caveat
77.5%of registered children have no active funding agreement

MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026 · May 13, 2026

See date, source and caveat
5+ yearsminimum reported time from registration to funding invitation for the August 2021 cohort (Ontario Autism Coalition, July 2026; not a province-wide service-start average)Read the OAC July 2026 update
$385Mannual difference between Ontario’s 2026-27 allocation and the FAO’s 2020 estimate for its costed service levels

Financial Accountability Office of Ontario, 2020 · 2020

See date, source and caveat
+907net new unfunded children added to the list each month (ETWO estimate derived from FOI progress reports)

FOI release CSS2026-0749 and MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026 · March 4, 2026 to May 13, 2026

See date, source and caveat

Spokesperson

Spencer Carroll

Founder, End The Wait Ontario · HRTO applicant (2025-62264-I)

A parent whose son was diagnosed early, registered immediately, and waited while the developmental window closed. Available for interviews, background briefings, data clarification, and on-the-record comment on Ontario autism services.

Founder story

Media contact

Request an interview

  1. Replies are sent as time allows. Put your deadline in the first line; deadline requests go first.
  2. Waitlist figures link to their FOI source; analysis and research are labelled separately.
  3. Use the press route so your request is triaged correctly.
Contact for press inquiry

Media inquiry

Send a request with your deadline attached.

For reporters, producers, and editors. Deadline-sensitive requests are prioritised, and every figure we give you links to its primary source.

Say when you need to file, tight deadlines are prioritised.

What are you working on, and what do you need from us?

Who or what you need, founder interview, data walkthrough, a parent voice.

In the kit

Assets and source material.

Pull the sheet you need. Each links to verifiable records so you can check the numbers before publishing.

Coverage and citations.

Media inquiries

Request an interview

Available for interviews, background briefings, data clarification, and spokesperson availability. Responses within 24 hours. Urgent deadlines: note your deadline in the message.

Contact for press inquiryOpen the six briefing blocks

  • CityNews Toronto · Aug 17, 2026

    Named as the source.

    Reporting on Ontario Autism Program wait times, CityNews attributed the province-wide waitlist figure and the 5+ year wait for families registered in 2021 to End The Wait Ontario, describing it as a parent-led campaign that tracks wait times.

    Read the articleSee the data

  • The Local & The Philanthropist Journal · Jul 30, 2026

    Funded reporting, sourced to us.

    Gabrielle McMann's reporting on the shortage of summer camps for Toronto children with disabilities attributes the Ontario Autism Program waitlist to End The Wait Ontario. Written under a fellowship funded by the Rideau Hall Foundation, which credited the story in its own post on local journalism.

    Read the articleAll coverage

  • CCRW · Apr 30, 2026

    National credit.

    The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work — a national disability-employment charity — cited our plain-language stimming explainer in its neurodiversity-in-the-workplace education article. Credit, not affiliation or endorsement.

    Read the articleSee the resource

  • Ottawa Citizen · Jun 21, 2026

    A human face.

    An Ottawa Citizen profile of a Kanata family on the spectrum, citing the FOI-released data we verify and publish on the OAP funding gap.

    Read articleSee the data

  • CBC News · Mar 30, 2026

    CBC investigates.

    A CBC News investigation by Toronto's Enterprise Unit, drawing on FOI-released progress reports.

    Read articleSee the data

  • CBC Ottawa Morning · Mar 31, 2026

    Live on the radio.

    A five-year wait, in the founder's own voice, days after the 2026 budget.

    ListenFounder story

  • The Trillium · Mar 27, 2026

    Where the money goes.

    OAC demands core-therapy funding be ringfenced. Trillium policy beat.

    Read articleBudget breakdown

  • The Trillium · Mar 25, 2026

    Accountability, on the record.

    Sneh Duggal's feature on endthewaitontario.com, FOI-released data we verify and publish, public-record.

    Read articleFOI archive

  • OPSEU Report · Jun 3, 2026

    Open the books. Fund our services.

    Ontario's largest public service union cited waitlist data consistent with the FOI-released figures we publish, and lists End The Wait Ontario among its sources, in their report on the $1 billion privatization of public services.

    Read reportFollow the money

Founded by Spencer Carroll. HRTO 2025-62264-I · Applicant. Waitlist counts come from MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026. Other figures are credited to their publisher. methodology.

Independent verification

Cited & referenced by

Where this data and these explainers are cited, referenced, reported on, and used as a source by third parties, including the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW).

Institutional reports

Unions and formal institutions referencing the data.

Media coverage

News outlets reporting on the work.

Family & resource hubs

Regional and family resource navigators pointing to the data.

Provider & disability-sector citations

Service providers and disability-sector organizations using the work as a source.

  • Cited by: CCRW - Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (opens in new tab)

    Cites the End The Wait Ontario stimming and autism resource in its neurodiversity-in-the-workplace material.

  • Cited by: Cognito

    Cites End The Wait Ontario’s public-vs-private assessment cost comparison page.

  • Cited by: Orion Behaviour Services (OBSS)

    Cites End The Wait Ontario for ABA therapy cost and OAP funding-range information.

Community circulation

Parent and community channels where the work is shared.

  • Shared in: Reddit — r/Autism_Parenting

    Shared as a parent-led resource compiling wait-time data and pushing for evidence-based care.

  • Shared in: Reddit — r/ontario (opens in new tab)

    A September 2026 r/ontario thread, posted by founder Spencer Carroll, sharing the statement "What They Thought I Needed" and the recorded calls it describes. A later founder comment in the thread links the named "240,000 Volunteers" account.

  • Shared in: Reddit — r/Autism_Parenting (opens in new tab)

    A September 2026 r/Autism_Parenting thread, posted by founder Spencer Carroll, sharing the statement "What They Thought I Needed" with other Ontario parents.

  • Shared in: Reddit — r/ontario (opens in new tab)

    A September 2026 r/ontario thread, posted by founder Spencer Carroll, sharing the full "240,000 Volunteers" account and its audio-backed public record.

  • Referenced by: LinkedIn — Julia Huckle article

    Lists End The Wait Ontario as a source for Ontario autism waitlist data.

  • Shared in: Facebook — parent & advocacy groups

    End The Wait Ontario and its waitlist figures are discussed in parent and advocacy communities.

  • Used as a source by: New Leaf North — Instagram (opens in new tab)

    A Northern Ontario awareness post explicitly credits End The Wait Ontario as its data source.

  • Shared in: X (Twitter) — community mentions

    Posts circulate the site’s Ontario autism waitlist statistics and OAP data.

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.

Claims and sources from this page(3)

How many children are on the Ontario autism waitlist?

Latest FOI data shows 91,974 children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program (May 2026), while 22.5% have active funding agreements. [FOI] An active funding agreement does not mean a child is receiving services; it is an administrative status distinct from service delivery. Some families report waits of 5+ years for families registered in August 2021 (community-reported, Ontario Autism Coalition, July 2026). That report is not a province-wide average. Last verified: 2026-08-10

Source: MCCSS FOI data via Ontario Autism Coalition [OAC] · Open source record

What makes End The Wait Ontario different from other autism resources?

End The Wait Ontario collects Ontario autism waitlist figures in one place. Each figure on this site shows its source and date. The current counts come from MCCSS Ontario Autism Program figures, May 13, 2026, obtained by the Ontario Autism Coalition under Freedom of Information; spending figures come from the Financial Accountability Office (FAO). [FOI] Parents and advocates can check the latest figures and the record behind each one. Last verified: 2026-08-10

Source: MCCSS FOI data via Ontario Autism Coalition [OAC] · Open source record

Why is there such a long waitlist?

The current MCCSS FOI snapshot records 91,974 children and youth registered with the OAP and 71,263 without an active Core Funding Agreement (May 13, 2026). These are administrative totals, not measures of therapy receipt. A point-in-time snapshot does not establish annual entry and exit rates or a permanent future backlog. Pending verification: Editorial review not recorded. Excluded from citation-ready exports.

Source: MCCSS FOI snapshot via Ontario Autism Coalition; exact release record not linked · Open source record

Related guides

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Sources 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.

Facts4
Sources2

22.5%

Only 20,711 children have active funding agreements (22.5%), less than one in four

Primary sourceMCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026Verified 2026-08-10
Last system verification: 2026-08-10. Next scheduled update: 2026-11-05.
View methodologyBrowse every source

About this page

Check the author’s context, review method, and how to report an error.

Written by

Founder & Autism Advocate

Lived experience: Parent of autistic child navigating OAP system