An interactive briefing from Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC on British Columbia’s 2026 CYSN funding reform. Every figure below is drawn from government documents, the Representative for Children and Youth, or the Ministry’s own cited research — sources listed at the bottom.

BC’s 2026 CYSN Reform

Cross-disability equity is overdue.
Levelling down isn’t the way to deliver it.

What the reform does to early intervention for every child under six.

By the government’s own numbersThis briefing walks through the reform in nine short sections — the expansion that’s genuinely needed, the financing choice that undercuts it, and four amendments that fix it without scrapping anything.
The bottom lineThe objection is not to the expansion. It’s to how the expansion is being financed.
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC

The Expansion

For 24 years, BC routed disability support through one diagnosis.

1The Starting Point

Children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, FASD, complex genetic profiles, Global Developmental Delay, or ADHD-only have not received the same individualized direct funding that children with Autism received. Some have received no funding. Expanding direct funding beyond the Autism diagnosis is genuinely overdue.

“Many children and youth, such as those with Global Developmental Delay, ADHD, complex trauma, Developmental Coordination Disorder, FASD and Down syndrome are not able to access direct funding support through these programs.” — MCFD Community Engagement Report
Where the disagreement isThe objection is not to the expansion. It’s to how the expansion is being financed.
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC

The Mechanism

An income-blind envelope becomes a tiered, assessed benefit.

Open to more disabilities — but smaller per child.

2The Mechanism
Out — Autism Funding
  • ×Up to $22,000/yr for any child under 6 with an Autism diagnosis
  • ×Income-blind — no means test
In — BC Children & Youth Disability Benefit
  • ✓Open to all qualifying disabilities, not just autism
  • ✓Needs-assessed: $17,000 or $6,500
The catchIt is not age-weighted — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old receive the same maximum.
Plus — BC Child & Youth Disability SupplementIncome-tested, DTC-gated, up to $6,000. First payment July 2027.
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC

The Reach

What the reform actually reaches.

3The Reach
~107,000
Children & youth with disabilities in BC
12,000–15,000
Projected to receive the new Benefit
~33,000
Projected to receive the new Supplement
The gapEven on the best assumptions, a gap of at least 70,000 children remains between the number of children & youth with disabilities estimated by the Ministry of Children and Family Development and the operational reach of the funding reform.
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC

The Financing

‘New money — existing services not cut.’ Both true?

4The Financing
$475M
“New” investment
over 3 years
+$289M
Redirected from the Autism Funding Program
3 years · Budget 2026, Table 1.2.3
The under-six early-intervention envelope is being redirected and redistributed across a substantially larger eligible population — while the per-child maximum for the youngest drops from $22,000 to $17,000, $6,500 or $0.
The patternEquity is being delivered by levelling down, not by levelling up.
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC

The Existing Caseload

Inside the Autism caseload — the same shrinkage.

5The Existing Caseload
~39,000
Open & pending Autism Funding cases
Dec 2025
−9,000
Projected to qualify for the new Benefit
=30,000
Moved off the needs-assessed Benefit

The remainder are directed to the income-tested, federally-gated Supplement (where eligible) or to community-based programming (if available in their region).

Out and down at onceCross-disability equity has been extended outward to new groups while support for the large majority of the existing Autism population is simultaneously reduced and redistributed.
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC

The Ministry’s Own Example

Meet 3-year old ‘Ollie’ — the Ministry’s own illustration.

Verbal autistic child · ADHD · no intellectual disability · household income $120,000.

6The Ministry’s Example
$22,000/yr
Current Autism Funding
under 6, income-blind
→
$3,200/yr
New model
Supplement only
“Ollie does not qualify for the BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit.” — MCFD Guide for Current Service Recipients, p. 29
Not just one personaOllie is one persona, but the design flaw he illustrates — point-in-time tiering of children whose support needs haven’t yet declared themselves — could apply equally to children with Down syndrome, FASD, cerebral palsy, GDD, or any condition where functional impact emerges over time.
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC

The Evidence

You can’t reliably apply a benefit tier to a 3-year-old.

The evidence is clear — and it’s the Ministry’s own cited sources saying so.

7The Evidence
1 The assumption: a child’s support tier can be set from a point-in-time assessment under six.

Reality

27% of children initially presenting with mild symptoms follow a worsening trajectory. — Kim et al., Variability in Autism Symptom Trajectories, 2018
2 The assumption: severity at age three predicts severity later on.

Reality

Children who will have substantial delays (resulting in intellectual disabilities) are not clearly distinguishable from those who will develop fluent speech and potentially function more independently… ‘profound autism’ is not appropriate for young children. — The Lancet Commission on Autism, 2022 (cited by MCFD as its own authority)
The consequenceWhatever the diagnosis, point-in-time functional assessment under six systematically misallocates intensity — assigning the base tier, or finding ineligible, the children whose needs haven’t yet fully emerged.
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC

The Proposal

Four amendments.
None require scrapping the reform.

8The Proposal
  • ✓Age-weighted early-intervention tier for all under-6 children with emerging or established functional support needs, regardless of diagnosis.
  • ✓Transitional protection — children currently on Autism Funding placed at the $17,000 high-needs tier until their 6th birthday, so no child mid-intervention is dropped during the transition.
  • ✓Annual independent evaluation for the program, publicly reported.
  • ✓Funding-adequacy floor — on the envelope, never as a therapy-hours quota a child must meet.
Who this is forDown syndrome. Cerebral palsy. FASD. Autism. GDD. ADHD. Rare conditions. Every child under six with emerging or established functional support needs deserves an early-intervention envelope sized to the window they’re in.
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC

Take Action

Read the full submission. Write your MLA.

9Take Action
✉Hon. Jodie WickensMinister of Children & Family Development
MCF.Minister@gov.bc.ca
✉Premier David Ebypremier@gov.bc.ca
✉Your MLAleg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members
Read the full submission →
Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC@FairDisabilityFundingBC
1 of 10

Sources

  • Too Many Left Behind — Representative for Children and Youth (RCY), 2025
  • MCFD announcement & FAQ, February 10, 2026
  • BC Budget 2026, Table 1.2.3
  • MCFD Autism Funding Service Rate, December 2025
  • MCFD Guide for Current Service Recipients (p. 29); MCFD Community Engagement Report
  • Kim et al., Variability in Autism Symptom Trajectories, 2018
  • The Lancet Commission on Autism, 2022
  • CTV News, February 10, 2026
  • Full submission: The Autism Dividend — fairfundingbc.ca