Ontario Autism Coalition’s 2025 Community Survey Exposes Collapse in Supports

The Ontario Autism Coalition (OAC) has released its 2025 Community Survey Report, revealing a community in crisis. The report paints a devastating picture of the Ontario Autism Program (OAP) and the realities facing autistic people and their families. Paired with the latest data from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS), it exposes a system in freefall, one that continues to abandon over 61,000 children and youth waitlisted for core clinical support.

“When Doug Ford says he’s protecting Ontario, we have to ask who he means, exactly?” said Alina Cameron, President of the Ontario Autism Coalition. “Because it’s not the tens of thousands of people in our community who are struggling without access to therapy, services, education, or respite. There are entire families falling through ever-widening gaps, children not attending school because the supports aren’t there, and parents pulled out of the workforce because they have no other choice.”

The OAC’’s survey, the most comprehensive in the province, marks the beginning of a new data-governance journey for the organization. After years of unanswered questions and missing transparency from government, families are gathering their own evidence.

Key Findings from the 2025 OAC Community Survey

The OAC’s findings echo a wider collapse across Ontario’s community and social service system. The same underfunding that has left more than 61,000 autistic children waitlisted for support has also weakened the agencies and frontline services families depend on.

“The same government that is ignoring care workers, and service providers, is also ignoring children and youth living with disability. Bill 124 may be gone, but its damage lives on in every waitlist and every family left to fend for themselves,” said Cameron.

Now, families are leading their own movement for accountability; just as CUPE and OPSEU/SEFPO’s Worth Fighting For campaign demands fair and funded services, the OAC’s community survey clearly shows the consequences of not properly funding and sustaining Ontario’s social infrastructure. The OAC’s partnership with MPP Alexa Gilmour today at Queen’s Park underscores that families are not alone in this fight, advocates and allies within government are stepping up to demand transparency.

“We grew frustrated with waiting for the government to answer our questions,” said Cameron. “So, we found the answers ourselves. Now we want action. Families are done waiting. We are building something truly by the community, for the community, to amplify our own truth because care, justice, and transparency are worth fighting for.”

“It’s unacceptable that over 61,000 children with autism are stuck on a waitlist. Families are exhausted from navigating a broken system, while children continue to be left behind. Ontario families deserve an Ontario Autism Program that works. I’m calling on the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services to fix this system before more families fall through the cracks.” – MPP Johnathan Tsao (Liberal Critic for Children, Community, and Social Services)

“The Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis represents over 1,800 members, many of whom are Registered Behaviour Analysts working directly with autistic individuals and their families. Over the last 6 years, we have, as professionals, seen the impacts of a decrease in allocation of funding for Core Clinical Services (CCS) and an increase in the waitlist for children and youth waiting for access to funding for services. This greater than 5 years wait time, has extremely detrimental effects on those individuals for whom access to behaviour analytic services may be vital to their skill development and improve their quality of life now and in the future. It is imperative that funding be allocated in a manner that reflects the importance of CCS and prioritizes the needs of individuals. We are disheartened to hear of the findings by the OAC through this community survey, but sadly it is in line with what our members have experienced in real time with the families they support. We urge the current government to reallocate funds to what the community finds important: Meaningful core clinical services, including ABA, that support the development of life long skills.”  – Jaime Santana and Jessica Cauchi, Current and Incoming President, Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis

“Ontarians deserve long-term stable funding for community and social services. OPSEU/SEFPO members who work on the front lines in community agencies, developmental services, community health services, and children’s aid societies see the consequences of the lack of funding everyday: we witness families and children struggling with soaring wait times and lack of access. This is the terrible reality of the political choice being made by this government to cut funding to community and social services by 20.5% between 2017 to 2026.” – JP Hornick, President OPSEU/SEFPO