Calgary Dollars
Local complementary currency running in Calgary since 1995, operated by the nonprofit Arusha Centre and funded by the City of Calgary (FCSS), Alberta funders and the Calgary Foundation. 1 C$ = 1 CAD; members earn C$ by posting goods/services ads on the marketplace and app, and spend at 350+ participating individuals and businesses, including city transit tickets and business licences partially payable in C$. One of North America's longest-running digital local currencies (relaunched as Canada's first local digital currency).
A 30-year survivor among municipal complementary currencies: debt-free, community-issued, genuinely inclusive, and institutionally embedded (city-funded, transit-accepted) — but fully CAD-denominated, custodial and grant-dependent, so it scores as a strong community program rather than sovereign money infrastructure.
M69 Score
Scored against the Money2069 Manifesto — see methodology. Higher = more aligned.
Detailed Rating Breakdown
Issuance Model3x3.0
Debt-free issuance (IM-02: 5) — C$ is earned into existence by posting marketplace ads and via program rewards, not lent. But issuance is program-administered by one nonprofit (IM-01: 3), only loosely tied to measurable real activity (IM-03: 3), with no formal elasticity or contraction mechanism (IM-04/05: 2).
Spending Power Stability2x2.0
Pegged 1:1 to CAD by convention (SPS-02: 2 — single moderate-stability fiat benchmark). No protocol mechanism of its own (SPS-01: 2); inherits Canadian dollar inflation, so long-term purchasing power is not addressed (SPS-05: 2). Peg has held within the network for ~30 years (SPS-04: 4).
Fiat Independence & Interoperability2x1.0
Unit of account is fully borrowed from the Canadian dollar (FI-01: 1); all pricing and the program's books are fiat-denominated, and the program cannot function meaningfully if CAD fails (FI-05: 1). No composability standard for other currencies (FI-07: 1-2).
Traction2x3.0
~30 years of continuous operation (TR-02: 5), live marketplace, iOS/Android apps, 350+ accepting individuals/businesses (TR-04: 3), city and foundation partners (TR-07: 4), WWF/CCEDNet/academic recognition (TR-08: 4). But user base is small (TR-03: 1-2), adoption is materially grant-supported rather than organic (TR-09: 2), and C$ prices are always CAD-equivalent (TR-05: 3).
Sovereignty2.0
Single nonprofit (Arusha Centre) runs the platform and ledger — defunding or a board decision could end it (SO-01: 1-2); accounts are custodial on the program's platform (SO-04: 2); participation requires an account with the operator (SO-08: 3). Not designed for censorship resistance.
Governance2.0
Conventional nonprofit board governance; no formal separation of monetary rules from operations (GO-06: 2), no published constitution protecting issuance rules (GO-07/08: 2). Program reporting to public funders provides some transparency (GO-03: 3).
Resilience3.0
Survived ~30 years including Alberta's boom-bust cycles and a full digital relaunch (RE-01: 4); simple, well-understood model (RE-04: 4). But funding is grant-dependent year to year (RE-07: 2) and everything runs on one small organization's infrastructure (RE-02: 2).
Inclusivity3.0
Explicit social-inclusion mandate — FCSS social-services funding, no cost to join, earnable by anyone with something to offer (IN-02: 5, IN-03: 5), benefits flow to participants and community grants (IN-04: 4). Geographic restriction to Calgary is by design (IN-01: 2); light account-based identity (IN-06: 3).