Opinion: Reform that expands access for some children while removing support from others does not solve the problem — it simply shifts who is left behind. Without national coordination, families will continue to fall through the cracks
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A child’s access to disability support in Canada depends too much on where they live and too little on what they need. This isn’t just inefficient public policy — it is inequity by design.
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Programs, eligibility rules and funding levels vary dramatically across provinces. Families must navigate systems never designed to work together, each with unique forms, thresholds and definitions of disability. The result is a patchwork of inconsistent support, with parents spending too much time fighting bureaucracy to secure the services their children need.
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B.C.’s recent disability reform is a case in point. It is billed as a fairer, more-inclusive model, and in some ways it is. But it also exposes the limits of provincial reform in a country without a coherent national disability strategy.
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On paper, B.C.’s new model offers improvements. It expands community-based services and introduces two broad funding streams: a disability benefit for children with “significant and/or complex support needs”, and a disability supplement.
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The province says these streams will reach more than 48,000 children, up from about 30,000 under the current Autism Funding Program.
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For many families who have historically received little or no support, the expansion will make a meaningful difference. More families will gain funding and flexibility, and that is real progress.
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But progress is uneven. About 5,000 autistic children are expected to lose funding because they no longer qualify under either stream, losing critical support when early intervention shapes development, education and long-term participation.
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A reform that expands access for some while removing support from others does not solve the problem — it simply shifts who is left behind.
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Governments should not confuse broader reach with a genuinely fair system. The deeper problem is that the system still relies on diagnosis-driven eligibility. Diagnosis remains the primary route into B.C.’s disability benefit, with eligibility tied to a narrow set of conditions. Families can be shut out if a child’s diagnosis is not on the list, even when their needs are substantial.
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To address that, the province created a secondary pathway based on need. In principle, access to support should not depend on whether a child’s needs fit neatly inside a diagnostic label.
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In practice, B.C. has set the bar so high that only children with “significant and complex” needs will qualify. Children with moderate, evolving, episodic or less-visible disabilities may still be left without meaningful support.
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B.C. is hardly alone. Across Canada, disability support often hinges on diagnosis, administrative categories and provincial policy choices rather than need. That should be unacceptable in a country that claims to value equity.
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B.C.’s disability supplement exposes another weakness in the system — dependence on the federal disability tax credit (DTC). To qualify for the supplement, families must first secure DTC approval. But the DTC is difficult to access, with burdensome paperwork, long waits and frequent denials over technicalities.
