Yellow Duck's First Splash Will Convene British Columbia's Childcare Sector Around a Growing Access Crisis

Childcare operators, families, policymakers and educators will gather today in Vancouver to examine the challenges to childcare ahead of election day

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yellow Duck will hold First Splash today, an invitation-only gathering in Vancouver bringing together licensed childcare operators, early childhood educators, parent advocates, municipal and provincial policymakers, sector leaders and technology partners. The event marks the public debut of Yellow Duck, a for-purpose business that puts its values into practice by building the infrastructure layer for the more-than-$60 billion childcare industry.

First Splash will put the people working in the childcare system at the center of an increasingly urgent conversation, ahead of Vancouver's Oct. 17 municipal election, where childcare access remains a prominent ballot issue.

British Columbia has funded more than 42,200 childcare spaces, but only 27,700 are open. In 2025, 31% of children ages 0 to 5 not in care were on a waitlist, up from 19% in 2022, and 56% of infants under one not in care were on a waitlist. Even after accounting for the pipeline, the City of Vancouver estimates a net shortfall of approximately 4,200 spaces for children 0 to 5. Affordable options are among the hardest to access: YWCA Metro Vancouver's average wait time is approximately 20 months, and only 20% of Vancouver spaces participate in the $10/day ChildCareBC program.

These stats will form the starting point for First Splash’s panel discussion: “$10 a Day Was the Start. What Comes Next?” During the candid conversation, the panelists will discuss what is working in British Columbia and what candidates should hear before voters decide. Panelists will include Yellow Duck CEO and founder Muna Harrington, Edify Learning Spaces founder Priya Tronsgard, and Wanderu co-founder and chairwoman Polina Raygorodskaya. Anoop Virk, an award-winning nonprofit founder, philanthropist, wellness-focused restaurateur, and the first female executive producer of TEDxVancouver, will moderate the panel.

Yellow Duck is building the infrastructure to close the gap the stats identified. Its platform is designed to replace the patchwork of tools childcare operators manage every day, including enrollment, waitlists, billing, parent communications, scheduling and compliance. The company aims to do for childcare what Toast did for restaurants and Mindbody did for fitness: connect the people, businesses, information and experiences that make an entire industry function. The platform will be free for parents, always, and is being built with childcare operators, not simply for them. Yellow Duck is on track for its official launch in 2027.

Muna Harrington founded the company, and her path to building Yellow Duck runs through both sides of the childcare system. Her mother immigrated to Canada and provided childcare for over 20 years while raising a low-income family. Then, at nine weeks pregnant, Harrington found herself on a childcare waitlist, watching the same frustrations her mother had navigated play out for a new generation of families. Her daughter, Hope, became the reason to build something that could change that.

The $10/day ChildCareBC program is personal for Harrington: It reflects the kind of support her family had to navigate when she was growing up. Yellow Duck is built to provide the infrastructure that helps programs like ChildCareBC work on the ground, connecting families and operators instead of leaving them to maneuver a fragmented system alone.

“I come from a family of immigrants who relied on a childcare system that was never designed with us in mind. Then, at nine weeks pregnant, I was told to get on a waitlist. I was frustrated because I could see that the same problems my mother experienced as a childcare provider were still affecting families decades later,” said Muna Harrington, CEO and founder of Yellow Duck. “I built Yellow Duck because the people doing the most important work in this country have never had the infrastructure they deserve. That ends now.”

Building better infrastructure is only part of the company's commitment. Yellow Duck's philanthropic work is part of its DNA from day one through the BHope Foundation, named in honor of Harrington's late mother-in-law, Barbara Hope Harrington, and her daughter. Through its 1.1.1 model, Yellow Duck dedicates 1% of equity, 1% of product and 1% of employee time to inspiring children through camps, nature, outdoor experiences and education.

The operating system for childcare starts here.

About Yellow Duck

Founded by Muna Harrington, Yellow Duck is building the infrastructure layer for the childcare industry, alongside childcare operators not for them. Its operating system connects the people, businesses, information and processes that make childcare work, from enrollment and waitlists to billing, communications, scheduling and compliance. Built as a for-purpose business, Yellow Duck is being developed with a commitment to keeping the platform free for parents and giving back through its 1.1.1 philanthropic model.