A dispute over the funding of autism treatment in British Columbia is heading to Canada's Supreme Court. The legal battle involves BC's refusal to pay for an early-intervention treatment program for autistic children that costs about $60 000 per year. In 2002 the BC Court of Appeal ruled that failure to pay for the treatment violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (CMAJ 2002;167 [11]: 1278). The province currently provides $20 000 each in annual funding to treat 500 autistic children under age 6. The appeal court ruling changed the maximum age for eligibility to 19 years. About 1400 autistic children aged 19 or under live in BC. — CMAJ