Autism Ontario is a 4-star charity. It has a B- Results Reporting Grade, which is below average. The charity is financially transparent, but is late in posting its most recent (F2023) audited financial statements. For every dollar donated to the charity, 83 cents are available to go to the cause, which is within Ci's reasonable range.

Founded in 1982 as Autism Society of Ontario, Autism Ontario (AO) supports individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families. Autism Ontario’s priority is ensuring individuals with autism and their families have a quality of life equitable to any Canadian. The charity states that 1-2% of Canadians are autistic and 135,000 people in Ontario are autistic (0.9% of the Ontario population). Autism Ontario spent $9.3m on programs and grants in F2022. The charity does not provide a financial breakdown of its programs.

Autism Ontario’s main program is Support for Autistic People and their Families. In F2023 Autism Ontario worked with Wilfrid Laurier University to research the needs of the autism community. The results led AO to partner with AccessOAP to connect more families with "core clinical services." Examples of core clinical services include behaviour analysis, speech pathology, occupational therapy, mental health services, and technology. In F2023, Autism Ontario recorded 42,094 service navigation conversations for AccessOAP. AO’s Community Care Project provides resource kits for culturally diverse families of autistic people. The Community Care project sent 3,428 resource kits and created 21 jobs for autistic adults.

AO also runs Workshops, Webinars, Events, and Courses. In F2023 the charity ran 33 webinars for 3,382 viewers. Autism Ontario also ran ten workshops for 850 people. Workshops focus on mental health, behavioural and occupational therapy, and speech pathology. In F2023, 615 students accessed AO’s free online courses and two autistic adults accessed a paid internship after course completion.

Autism Ontario sends Awards, Funding, and Scholarships to autistic people and their families. In F2023, AO awarded 21 scholarships to people in the autism community entering their first year of post-secondary school. Of these, 15 went to autistic students on the spectrum, five went to siblings of someone on the autistic spectrum, and one went to a student of an autistic parent. AO also reimbursed 25 autistic adults for expenses related to work, education, or leisure activities.  

As of the writing of this report, Autism Ontario is late in posting its most recent audited financial statements (F2023). As such, the most recent financial information provided is from F2022. 

Autism Ontario received $2.3m in donations and special events revenue in F2022. It also received $7.7m in government funding, representing 75% of its total revenue. Administrative costs are 5% of revenue and fundraising costs are 12% of donations. For every dollar donated to the charity, 83 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending. Autism Ontario spent $9.3m on its programs in F2022, which is 90% of total revenue. AO had a surplus of $232k, which is 3% of total revenue. Autism Ontario has $11.0m in reserve funds (cash and investments less interest-bearing debt). The charity's reserves can cover 118%, or one year and two months of its annual program costs.

AO used external fundraisers in F2022. The charity paid $70k to raise $22k from the external fundraiser(s). It costs 32 cents to raise a dollar using external fundraisers.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Autism Ontario for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated May 24, 2024 by Liam Chapleau.