Should you get a private Autism Assessment? It depends...
Just in February, the Ministry of Children and Family Development announced upcoming changes (as of March 2027) to how autism funding is managed. See their website for more information. Their changes do not affect school-based funding and services.
Autism assessments in BC have to be completed in a certain way in order to qualify for funding. We have completed hundreds of such assessments over more than 20 years. We complete assessments of children, youth, and young adults from 1 to 25 years of age. We are the largest private autism assessment clinic on Vancouver Island.
The BC Autism Assessment Network provides quality assessments free of charge with a physician's referral at the Queen Alexandra Centre for Children’s Health. Some of us continue to work within BCAAN to help address their waitlists. Current wait times for BCAAN are available here.
After having long waitlists for years, we are starting to catch up! We have only a 2 to 3 month waitlist for children under age 6, and a 1 to 2 month booking window for children over 6 years of age. We have maintained a relatively low cost of assessments over the years; the cost of our portion of an autism assessment is $2950.
Deciding to pursue a private assessment depends on your willingness to wait for BCAAN, and some age-specific determinants.
Click below to learn more, and to get on the wait list:
If your child has already been diagnosed with autism outside of BC and you are looking to pursue services in BC, you only need a confirmation of diagnosis.