Ontario Investing in Autism Services to Better Serve Children andFamilies in Durham Region
July 25, 2025
Durham Region —The Ontario government is investing more than $37 million over the next two years in 100 public and private autism service providers across the province to help more children and families access clinical services in the Ontario Autism Program. This investment includes funding for Mount Etna Child & Family Services and One Care Inc. in Durham Region.
“Children with autism and their families deserve real support, so I’m proud to say that our government is listening and taking action,” said Todd McCarthy, MPP for Durham. “Our investments here in Durham Region and throughout Ontario will help autism service providers build and retain a stable, skilled teams that will allow more families to access the services they need close to home.”
Service providers are receiving funding through the Ontario Autism Program’s workforce capacity fund. This fund provides two-year grants ranging from $50,000 to $400,000 in value to help providers to hire new staff, increase staff hours, train employees, invest in technology, and reach rural and remote communities.
“Protecting Ontario starts by safeguarding the province’s most vulnerable and ensuring that all children are provided with opportunities to achieve lifelong success,” said Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. “Autism service providers do an incredible job of helping children and youth reach their full potential. Our government is proud to work with them to make it easier for more families to access timely, local supports tailored to their needs.”
Funding for local service providers through the workforce capacity fund is part of the province’s total investment in the Ontario Autism Program. Since 2019, Ontario has more than doubled the program’s annual budget, bringing it to a total of $779 million with the addition of a $175 million investment through Budget 2025. This new investment will continue to support the enrolment of children and youth in core clinical services. The workforce capacity fund is one initiative under the OAP capacity action plan. The province prioritizes applications that support families and service providers in northern, rural and remote communities, as well as francophone and Indigenous families recognizing the unique challenges these groups face.
“As a small, community-based provider, MECFS is honoured to be a recipient of this OAP workforce capacity grant. As a mom, clinician and a business owner, I’ve made significant personal investments to ensure our team has the training, tools, and support needed to deliver exceptional care to the families who trust us. Having the broader community now invest in us is not only validating—it’s a welcome lifeline. Small and medium-sized providers like ours are essential to meeting the diverse needs of families with autistic children across the region, and this funding strengthens our ability to grow our team, expand access in Durham and beyond, and continue providing quality, compassionate services that help children thrive”
- Adina Yankov, Owner & Operator, Mount Etna Child & Family Services.
“We are incredibly proud and grateful to be selected as a recipient of the Workforce Capacity Grant. It is our ongoing commitment to continue building dedicated and responsive support systems for children, youth, and adults within the Autism community. This grant enables us to expand our services to include a new Family Support services division which will include a Social Worker to offer a variety of new supports for our families. This will include identifying community opportunities and resources for clients and assisting families with navigating funding options. Our services will help families in identifying their goals and needs for their child, acknowledging present challenges they may be facing and help connect them to the appropriate resources. We recognize that supporting the family has far reaching benefits for everyone involved. We are also excited to be able to expand upon our student placement opportunities for those in the Autism and Behavioural Sciences program to help train the professionals of tomorrow.”
- Tamara Nuttall, Founder & CEO, One Care Inc.
QUICK FACTS
• Workforce capacity fund grants awarded in 2022 and 2023 supported providers to: serve an additional 6,000 children and youth on the autism spectrum, boost training for more than 2,000 staff and fund more than 500 clinician positions.
• The Ontario Autism Program has served tens of thousands of children and youth with autism aged 0-17 through multiple streams in the program, including caregiver-mediated early years programs, the entry to school program, foundational family services, core clinical services and urgent response services.
• Since the workforce capacity fund was created in 2021, Ontario has awarded more than 350 grants in total to autism service providers across the province.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Douglas Ellis, Executive Assistant
Communications & Stakeholder Relations
Office of the Hon. Todd McCarthy, MPP – Durham
C: 905-697-1501
E: douglas.ellis@pc.ola.org