WEBVTT

00:00.000 --> 00:07.780
Ontario’s 2026 budget provides 965 million dollars to the Ontario Autism Program

00:07.830 --> 00:09.920
in 2026-27,

00:09.970 --> 00:13.300
including 186 million in new funding.

00:13.460 --> 00:16.117
What share of it reaches core clinical services?

00:17.100 --> 00:18.570
According to the article,

00:18.620 --> 00:21.330
as of May 13, 2026,

00:21.380 --> 00:27.140
91,974 children were registered in the Ontario Autism Program.

00:27.380 --> 00:31.900
20,711 held an active Core Funding Agreement.

00:31.970 --> 00:35.017
71,263 did not.

00:35.400 --> 00:40.020
Documents obtained by The Trillium through freedom of information show that less

00:40.020 --> 00:45.700
than half of the 691.2 million dollars spent on the Ontario Autism

00:45.700 --> 00:50.540
Program in 2023-24 went to core clinical services.

00:50.910 --> 00:53.090
The documents also list 14 million dollars

00:53.040 --> 00:55.410
for Connections for Students,

00:55.460 --> 00:59.660
26.5 million for system capacity building initiatives,

00:59.770 --> 01:03.040
and 57.9 million for AccessOAP,

01:03.090 --> 01:04.750
which handles registration,

01:04.800 --> 01:07.183
intake and payments to families.

01:07.440 --> 01:09.250
Accerta Services Inc.

01:09.300 --> 01:14.000
was selected in 2021 to lead the independent intake organization

01:14.050 --> 01:16.320
for the Ontario Autism Program,

01:16.410 --> 01:18.280
which operates as AccessOAP.

01:19.060 --> 01:24.080
Ontario’s Public Accounts show provincial payments to Accerta companies rose from about

01:24.080 --> 01:32.150
202.5 million dollars in 2018-19 to 672 million in 2024-25,

01:32.200 --> 01:34.660
across every program they administer.

01:35.030 --> 01:38.170
Accerta is involved in administering Ontario Works,

01:38.220 --> 01:43.300
the Ontario Disability Support Program and the Ontario Autism Program.

01:43.770 --> 01:46.560
The article says the figure covers all of them

01:46.610 --> 01:50.340
and is not the cost of administering the autism program alone.

01:50.560 --> 01:52.510
In 2023-24,

01:52.560 --> 01:56.180
intake and administration through AccessOAP accounted

01:56.180 --> 01:58.383
for 57.9 million dollars.

01:59.320 --> 02:00.960
The article’s analysis:

02:01.010 --> 02:04.600
nothing in the published record ties the administrator’s pay to how fast

02:04.600 --> 02:05.980
the queue shrinks.

02:06.030 --> 02:11.800
Accerta told CP24 the funding it administers flows directly to eligible beneficiaries

02:11.800 --> 02:13.850
based on contractual terms.

02:13.900 --> 02:15.480
The article’s reading:

02:15.530 --> 02:18.770
intake work follows the size of the registered population,

02:18.820 --> 02:21.700
not the number of children who receive therapy.

02:21.760 --> 02:25.350
A reading of structure, not an allegation about anyone’s conduct.

02:25.640 --> 02:29.520
A Toronto Star investigation found that emergency placements

02:29.520 --> 02:34.120
for children with complex needs can cost upward of 200,000 dollars per

02:34.120 --> 02:35.450
child per year,

02:35.500 --> 02:38.160
and in some cases have approached 1 million.

02:38.270 --> 02:41.720
Between April 2023 and March 2024,

02:41.920 --> 02:46.900
339 children and teens in child welfare care were living in unlicensed

02:46.900 --> 02:50.283
settings, up from 124 two years earlier.

02:50.580 --> 02:52.470
In the article’s illustration,

02:52.520 --> 02:58.000
one emergency placement at 500,000 dollars a year costs about what 75

02:58.000 --> 03:02.400
children receive at the 6,600 dollar minimum band.

03:02.580 --> 03:06.120
The article reads this as a structure where crisis spending is mandatory

03:06.120 --> 03:08.580
and prevention is rationed.

03:08.630 --> 03:12.017
That is analysis, not a finding about anyone’s intent.

03:12.600 --> 03:16.340
Recent waitlist figures came to light through data obtained by the Ontario

03:16.340 --> 03:19.250
Autism Coalition and OPSEU,

03:19.300 --> 03:23.590
reported by CP24 on July 10, 2026.

03:23.640 --> 03:26.170
The Ontario.ca program pages,

03:26.220 --> 03:28.910
updated April 16, 2026,

03:28.960 --> 03:30.470
show no current count.

03:30.520 --> 03:31.783
Why is not on the record.

03:32.420 --> 03:34.650
This is about whether children get funded,

03:34.700 --> 03:36.440
not about any therapy.

03:36.610 --> 03:39.140
The question is money, not method.

03:39.190 --> 03:44.360
Ask your MPP why 77.5 percent of registered children do not hold

03:44.360 --> 03:46.620
an active Core Funding Agreement.