File photo. (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Elora McCormack

Autism support demonstration

Changes in autism funding spark demonstration at Kamloops City Hall

Mar 13, 2026 | 10:13 AM

KAMLOOPS — Local advocates plan to gather at Kamloops City Hall on Saturday (March 14) to protest changes in the way the B.C. government provides support to families with children with disabilities. 

The B.C. government says it is investing $475 million to expand access to free community supports and give thousands more families direct funding. 

The new B.C. Children and Youth Disability Benefit program and B.C. Children and Youth Disability Supplement are being phased in, replacing the existing autism funding program to reach more children. 

“We heard clearly there are too many children with diverse needs who are not well served by the current system,” Jodie Wickens, Minister of Children and Family Development says.  

“This investment is about significantly expanding both financial supports and services for children and youth with a range of disabilities, through a new approach that is fair and that provides the greatest support to the most vulnerable.” 

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However, local advocate and Social Butterflies behaviour analyst Nicole Grocock says the new changes will exclude many families and children. 

“We’re super happy that there are going to be more kids who will get funding that haven’t been able to access funding at all, like Down Syndrome or FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder) or more complex disabilities. So, our issue isn’t that more kids will be accessing funding,” Grocock explains. 

“However, now there is going to be a large group of kiddos who will not be able to access funding anymore.” 

Grocock said the updated funding model will exclude children who have access under the old model. 

“We support a wide range of learners with autism and other disabilities. A lot of our learners are struggling more so with social skills or emotional regulation, and they’re highly verbal and have great academic skills. These are the kiddos who are likely to lose their funding and kind of be pushed more into the community services model,” Grocock says. 

“That breaks my heart because I don’t want to lose those clients and a lot of clients might not be able to afford to pay out of pocket for services.” 

Grocock said the demonstration will go ahead on Saturday (March 14) at Kamloops City Hall at 12:00 p.m. and coincides with other demonstrations in Vancouver and Victoria. 

“All kiddos deserve to have access to funding and use it in a way that is the most meaningful to them and to be able to pick and choose the best providers and therapies that work best for the families,” Grocock says.