Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC · Every figure from the government's own files · Revised June 22, 2026
BC's 2026 'historic' child & youth disability funding
Less for Each Child.
What the announcement actually does — in the government's own numbers.
7 charts. Every figure is the government's own files — BC Budget 2026 and the Ministry's Service Plans.
Use the tabs above, or Next, to move through the breakdown. Sources for every figure are listed at the bottom.
Total CYSN budget, by fiscal year
A spike, not a commitment.
The 2026/27 'historic' figure is the only year that stands out — and it stands out for a reason.
$642.2M
2025/26
$814.8M
2026/27
the "historic" spike
$678.5M
2027/28
$691.3M
2028/29
The 2026/27 spike is twelve months of the old Autism Funding Program and the new Benefit running in parallel before the old program sunsets — a bookkeeping artefact of the transition, not a sustained level of investment.
MCFD 2026/27–2028/29 Service Plan, Financial Summary p.12 (CYSN line). The Autism Funding Program terminates March 31, 2027 (BC Gov News release 2026CFD0002-000136).
Budget 2026's own breakdown
How "$475 million" is built.
Three new program lines total $764M; then $289M of existing funding, booked as a negative, is netted out — leaving the headline.
What's added — $764M in new programs
- CYSN Benefit +$439M
- Disability Supplement +$245M
- New Community Programming +$80M
What's taken out
- Existing funding removed -$289M
Net the removal against the new lines and the headline becomes "historic" $475M. The removed line is existing autism funding winding down — booked as -$170M and -$171M as the program ends ("repurposed").
BC Budget 2026 Fiscal Plan, Table 1.2.3 "Better Support for Children and Youth with Support Needs" ($M, 3-yr totals). Existing Program Funding runs +$52M / -$170M / -$171M = -$289M net. Footnote: "amounts previously held in contingencies and direct funding being repurposed."
Table 1.2.3, by program line and year ($M)
Inside the $475M: each line, every year.
The new programs ramp up while existing autism funding is pulled out — so the net added each year stays far below the gross of the new lines.
2026/27 — Net +$157M
+$95M
CYSN Benefit
+$10M
New Community
+$52M
Existing funding
still positive
2027/28 — Net +$133M
+$168M
CYSN Benefit
+$105M
Disability Supp.
+$30M
New Community
-$170M
Existing funding
pulled out
2028/29 — Net +$185M
+$176M
CYSN Benefit
+$140M
Disability Supp.
+$40M
New Community
-$171M
Existing funding
pulled out
Column nets: +$157M / +$133M / +$185M = $475M over three years.
BC Budget 2026 Fiscal Plan, Table 1.2.3 ($M). Existing Program Funding is +$52M in 2026/27, then -$170M and -$171M.
The "Existing Program Funding" line
The "$289M redirect" is a $341M pull-out.
Once the Autism Funding Program ends, the line removes $170M and $171M — $341M over two years.
+$52M
2026/27
transition year
-$170M
2027/28
-$171M
2028/29
-$170M + -$171M = -$341M pulled out over two years. It reads as a net -$289M only because the +$52M transition year (2026/27, while the autism program still runs) is subtracted from it.
BC Budget 2026 Fiscal Plan, Table 1.2.3 ($M). Existing Program Funding: +$52M (2026/27), -$170M (2027/28), -$171M (2028/29); net -$289M. The Autism Funding Program terminates March 31, 2027.
B.C. Family Benefit — annual cost
A new disability stream, inside a shrinking benefit.
The new $6,000 disability supplement is delivered through the B.C. Family Benefit — a line that falls $176M over three years.
$696M
2024/25
actual
$579M
2025/26
estimated
$520M
2026/27
planned
-$176M peak-to-trough — the whole decline is a temporary Family Benefit Bonus (Jul 2024–Jun 2025) lapsing, not a cut to the base. The base is then frozen flat at $520M through 2028/29.
The new $6,000 supplement is added to this same line — but pays only from July 2027, and is funded inside the CYSN redesign, not by this decline.
BC Budget 2026 Fiscal Plan, Table A1.1.1 (Personal Income Tax – Tax Expenditures) and Material Assumptions Table A7, B.C. Family Benefit line. The Province does not say the reduction funds the supplement, and we don't claim it does — Budget 2026 funds the supplement ($245M) inside the redesign, offset by the $289M autism redirect. What they share is an envelope, not a source.
$80M community-services expansion
Community 'hubs,' per child.
Spread across the children it's meant to serve, the new community programming lands far short of the Ministry's own quality benchmark.
$872
per child / yr
if across ~107K children
$1,014
per child / yr
if across ~92K children
$1,582
per child / yr
if across ~59K children
Ministry quality benchmark: $8,321 per child.
Even the tightest population estimate leaves the per-child figure far short — the headline scenario is ≈10.5% of the benchmark.
BC Budget 2026 Fiscal Plan, Table 1.2.3 (New Community-Based Programming: $80M over 3 yrs / ~$93M peak annual). ~107K children with support needs (gov FAQ Quick Facts); narrower estimates illustrate the spread.
Average funding per child served, $/yr
More children. Less for each one.
Average funding per child peaks in the 2026/27 announcement year, then falls as the caseload climbs from 58,000 to 79,000.
$11,073
2025/26
58,000 kids
$12,536
2026/27
65,000 kids · announcement
$9,557
2027/28
71,000 kids
$8,750
2028/29
79,000 kids
From the 2026/27 peak, average funding per child falls about 30% in plain dollars (about a third once adjusted for inflation) — more children, sharing a pool that shrinks after one showcase year.
MCFD 2026/27–2028/29 Service Plan, Financial Summary p.12 (CYSN budget) and Performance Measure 4a p.10 (children served). Funding per child = budget ÷ children served. Real terms uses BC Budget 2026 CPI forecast (≈2%/yr).
Less for each child
The question isn't how large the headline number sounds — it's how much support reaches each child.
Share this page to help demand the funding every child deserves:
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Visit our website to view the detailed report and op-ed:
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Sources — all government files
- BC Budget 2026 Fiscal Plan, Table 1.2.3 — "Better Support for Children and Youth with Support Needs" ($M, 3-yr totals).
- BC Budget 2026 Fiscal Plan, Table A1.1.1 — Personal Income Tax – Tax Expenditures, B.C. Family Benefit line; Material Assumptions Table A7 (base frozen flat through 2028/29).
- MCFD 2026/27–2028/29 Service Plan — Financial Summary p.12 (CYSN budget); Performance Measure 4a p.10 (children served).
- BC Gov News release 2026CFD0002-000136 — Autism Funding Program terminates March 31, 2027.
- Government FAQ "Quick Facts" — ~107K children with support needs.
- Full report & op-ed: FairFundingBC.ca/reports
Prepared by Fair Autism & Disability Funding BC. Revised June 22, 2026. Every non-derived figure is confirmed against its primary source; per-child figures are arithmetic from the published budget and caseload.