The 2026 CYSN Framework: A Rural Grievance
Submitted to the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development, the Premier, the Representative for Children and Youth, and the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth — March 9, 2026
British Columbia is rolling out a new system of support for Children and Youth with Support Needs. The Ministry says the new model will deliver care to every child "no matter where they live." For families in the Elk Valley, that promise doesn't hold up.
The short version
The new framework moves funding away from individual families and into a network of 41 "Community-Based Service Hubs" — fixed buildings, mostly in larger urban centres. The nearest Hub to Fernie is in Nelson: a 652 km round-trip across two mountain passes that close regularly in winter.
Using the Ministry's own published figures and publicly available financial data from existing pilot Hubs:
- The new model funds care at roughly $872 per child per year, against a benchmark cost closer to $8,300 — a gap of nearly 90%.
- Travel costs alone for one Hub visit per month from Fernie come to $5,476 per year — more than six times the Ministry's per-child investment.
- Each of the 41 planned Hubs would need to serve between 1,400 and 2,600 children — well beyond the demonstrated capacity of the existing pilots, which average around 800.
This framework, as currently designed, is inconsistent with the Ministry's own service plan and with several sections of the Child, Family and Community Service Act.
What's changing
The previous CYSN system included individualized funding that families could direct toward local therapists, programs, and supports of their choosing. That funding is being phased out.
In its place, the Ministry is establishing 41 Community-Based Service Hubs across the province. Families will access services through their nearest Hub rather than choosing local providers directly.
The Ministry describes this as "strengthening choice and flexibility." For families who live near a Hub, it may. For families who don't, it removes both.
The geographic problem
The closest Hub to the Elk Valley is in Nelson — about 326 km from Fernie, one way. The drive crosses the Kootenay Pass and the Salmo–Creston summit, both of which see regular winter closures.
That figure doesn't include lost wages, overnight accommodation when the passes close, meals, or the physical and emotional toll on a child with sensory or regulatory challenges who is being asked to spend nine hours in a car to access an hour of therapy. A single visit per month is also clinically insufficient for most children with significant support needs.
The funding problem
Using the Ministry's stated 40% funding growth and the resulting $280 million three-year envelope for the Hub network, the annual budget works out to approximately $93.3 million.
Spread across the roughly 107,000 BC children the Ministry has identified as needing support, that comes to $872 per child per year.
For comparison, we looked at the 2024/25 financial returns of three existing pilot Hubs in the northwest of the province. Their actual cost per child served averaged $8,321 per year.
The new model is funded at roughly 10% of what existing comparable programs actually spend.
The capacity problem
The three existing pilot Hubs each serve, on average, about 800 children. The new framework would need each of its 41 Hubs to serve between 1,400 and 2,600 children to meet provincial need.
This is a structural impossibility. Waitlists are not a risk — they are mathematically guaranteed.
The eligibility problem
There is also an inconsistency in how the Ministry decides who qualifies for direct support.
The Ministry already accepts the federal Canada Revenue Agency's Disability Tax Credit (DTC) as proof of disability for the new BC Children and Youth Disability Supplement. But for the larger Disability Benefit, the Ministry rejects the same DTC qualification and instead requires evidence of an intellectual disability for direct admission.
This excludes large numbers of children with Autism, ADHD, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder whose disabilities have been formally recognized by the federal government. These families are routed instead into a "Needs-Based Review" pathway whose criteria have not yet been published.
A child cannot reasonably be considered "disabled enough" for the Supplement and "not disabled enough" for the Benefit on the basis of the same evidence.
What we are asking for
- Restore individualized funding. Families should be able to direct support funding toward established local therapists and providers, especially where geographic distance makes Hub access impractical.
- Fund rural infrastructure and providers. Existing private and community-based providers in rural municipalities like the Elk Valley should be supported, not displaced. Care needs to be physically accessible to be meaningfully accessible.
- Align eligibility with federal standards. The CRA Disability Tax Credit should be accepted as automatic qualification for direct admission to the Disability Benefit, as it already is for the Supplement.
- Commission an independent rural equity audit. The BC Ombudsperson should examine the framework's geographic impact and its consistency with the Child, Family and Community Service Act.
What you can do
The most useful thing you can do right now is send a letter to Premier Eby. Our Broken Promises letter tool delivers a pre-written message straight to the Premier's office. It takes less than a minute.
Every letter matters. The more voices the Premier hears from — rural and urban, parents and neighbours, affected families and allies — the harder this is to ignore.