On April 17, 2024, The Joyce Family Foundation announced a $5 million gift towards the creation of the National Centre for Autism Collaboration (NCAC). The Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation, McMaster University, and the Sinneave Family Foundation collaboratively matched this gift to elevate and accelerate the impact of evidence on the care and lives of Autistic people and their families across Canada.

Through the National Centre for Autism Collaboration, Autism Alliance of Canada conducts and supports autism health services and policy research in priority areas identified by Autistic people and those who support them. Our research and data initiatives will generate evidence that can shape inclusive policies that address the diverse needs of Autistic persons and their loved ones.

These initiatives fall under four pillars:

1. A Data & Science Hub will support access to existing datasets for researchers, helping to address gaps in clinical research, policy, and service delivery across the country. 
2. A Knowledge & Evidence Synthesis Portal will catalyze projects aimed at gathering evidence that will inform best practices in autism service delivery and care based on the priorities set forth by the members of Autism Alliance of Canada. 
3. A Policy Collaborative will unite knowledge from the members of Autism Alliance of Canada, researchers, and the broader network, into convening spaces to inform leaders, policy- and decision-makers at all government levels with current evidence and best practices. 
4. A Training Collaborative will offer fellowships, internships and scholarships that provide pathways into autism-related work for promising scholars and clinicians.

Community-Based Participatory Research

Within each pillar, we strive to center the experiences of Autistic people and their loved ones, with community-identified priorities guiding us. We work towards the production of high-quality evidence and data that can inform system-level policy change and guide the development and implementation of the National Autism Strategy. We do this by:

• Partnering with Autistic people and their families, researchers, clinicians, and service providers, to develop research projects guided by community priorities.
• Advancing pan-Canadian collaborations.
• Leading and supporting multi-regional grants and national studies.
• Connecting policymakers and researchers to conduct research that can inform system change.
• Building training capacity for neurodiverse research trainees to be equipped to lead autism research.
• Generating community-based data.
To learn more about the launch of the NCAC, click here.