About The Toronto Dollar

The Toronto Dollar Community Projects Inc is a registered non-profit corporation. It was created by citizens with a focus on their community to foster caring and kindness with a view to contributing to the efforts of justice and compassion within our city.

Toronto Dollar Mission Statement:

The Toronto Dollar is a symbol of caring, created by community-minded citizens in the hope that it will help to build a more just and compassionate city. The work of the Toronto Dollar is to encourage more caring social and economic relationships among people from the community, businesses and government sectors -- particularly towards those in the community with the greatest economic need.

The Toronto Dollar project was started by a group of community-minded people with a dream - to build a healthier, more prosperous local economy that puts more spending power in the hands of people in need. You can help us make a difference by using Toronto Dollars. The Toronto Dollar is a local currency that benefits the community by:

• Strengthening the local economy and supporting new businesses
• Keeping your money working and circulating locally
• Bringing decision-making back to the community
• Creating new employment opportunities
• Supporting community projects with the funds received from the 10% merchant contribution

How it works:

• Consumers exchange 1 Canadian dollar for 1 Toronto dollar through participating organizations or at the Toronto Dollar booth at the St. Lawrence Market (open on Saturdays).
• You spend Toronto Dollars as you would Canadian dollars at participating businesses. (There is a registration fee of $25 for new businesses).
• The 10% solution: each time a Toronto Dollar is purchased from Toronto Dollar Inc, 90 cents is deposited in a reserve fund and 10 cents goes to the Toronto Dollar Community Projects Fund.
• Businesses can spend the Toronto Dollars for services or products at other businesses, hire part-time staff or they can redeem their Toronto Dollars for 90 cents.

We welcome people to become actively involved with one of our committees. Click on the Volunteers link above to find out how to help out, or click on the Merchants link above to see where you can use your Toronto Dollars. If you would like to become a participating business that allows customers to use Toronto Dollars click on How to become a Toronto Dollar Merchant and find out about signing up your business. You can also visit the Contact Us section for general inquiries.

Who benefits?

View our list of organizations that benefit from the Toronto Dollar.