FAIR AUTISM & DISABILITY FUNDING BC

Budget 2027 - Written Submission - June 2026

We are a group of parents and caregivers of children with autism and other disabilities across BC, including families in rural and remote communities. Our submission examines the funding figures in Budget 2026 and what they mean for children under the new CYSN framework. We have analyzed the government's own caseload projections, Service Plan, and budget tables. Our concern is not the arithmetic but its consequences: per-child funding falls in real terms as caseloads grow, while thousands of families outside urban centres are left to buy services privately with that benefit, with no government-funded community-based services where they live.

Recommendation 1:

Allocate funding in Budget 2027 and beyond so children aged 6-18 can access a CYSN Disability Benefit tier of at least $6,500, and children aged 0-5 can access at least $17,000 for early intervention therapy. Publish the higher-tier eligibility criteria before Budget 2027.

Explanation:

Of the $764M presented in Budget 2026, $289M is not new money: it is existing Autism Funding Program and SAET funding, cancelled and rebranded as new investment, as confirmed in Table 1.2.3 and the government's own FAQ. Of the remaining $475M described as net new, $245M is a Ministry of Finance tax measure delivered through the CRA, which appears on the same budget line as the cancelled BC Child Benefit Bonus. It never reaches MCFD, does not begin until July 2027, and carries no clinical oversight to ensure it reaches the children who need it most. That leaves roughly $230M in real new MCFD operational funding over three years, for a system the government's own Service Plan projects will grow by 36%.

A defined benefit floor is essential. Currently 54% of families could be left at the base rate of $6,500 with no published standard explaining why. We ask that the higher-tier eligibility criteria be published before Budget 2027 so families understand how decisions about their children are made.

The Ministry already holds the current caseload data needed to cost these tiers precisely, and we ask that it publish that costing alongside the eligibility criteria. This is not a request for luxury; it is a request that the benefit reflect the real cost of early intervention and ongoing support, and that it be set in regulation rather than left to discretion.

Recommendation 2:

Treat rural and remote access to public services for children with disabilities as a standalone Budget 2027 item, with placeholder funding allocated directly to families and dedicated planning for the infrastructure needed to deliver equitable public services province-wide.

Explanation:

The $80M allocated to community-based programming is welcome, but community programs are urban by nature. Families in rural and remote BC, in the Interior, the North, and Vancouver Island communities outside Victoria, often have no community program or Child Development Centre (CDC) within reach. A cash benefit families can spend only on private providers, with no publicly funded community services behind it, is not equity.

The Minister stated that 80% of AFP families will receive one or both new programs. That leaves at least 5,600 families receiving neither the Benefit nor the Supplement, only community services, if those services exist where they live. For many rural families, they do not.

Geographic equity requires a dedicated funding stream that closes these gaps through community consultation and infrastructure creation, not an assumption that infrastructure already exists. Mobile therapy units have been suggested as a replacement, but a mobile unit does not provide access equivalent to a CDC. Until permanent public-services infrastructure is built, families in rural and remote areas should receive placeholder financing as a bridge, so that no child goes without support because of where they live.

Recommendation 3

Maintain average per-child funding in real terms as caseloads grow, in Budget 2027 and beyond, so that funding keeps pace with both inflation and the rising number of children with disabilities accessing services.

Explanation:

Using the government's own caseload projections from the MCFD Service Plan, average per-child funding declines sharply:

2026/27: approximately $12,538 per child, but only because two systems run simultaneously during the transition. This is a one-time overlap, not a sustained investment level.

2027/28: $9,563 per child

2028/29: $8,747 per child

That is a roughly 30% reduction in per-child value over three years, while the caseload grows by 36%.

We also compared Budget 2026 to commitments already made. The 2025 Budget had already planned CYSN funding through 2027/28. Adjusted for inflation, and once the one-time transition overlap is removed, Budget 2026 delivers less than the 2025 Budget already promised in both comparable years.

We are not asking for more than was already committed. We are asking that the dollars keep pace with the number of children who need them. The current trajectory moves in the opposite direction: as more children enter the system, each child, on average, receives less. We ask that Budget 2027 set per-child funding in real terms and protect it as caseloads grow.