How OUR Community Dollar™ Works
OUR Community Dollar is a privately issued local currency that runs in parallel with the Canadian dollar. When members receive and spend OC$ complementary currency, that value stays inside OUR Local Community instead of leaving.
What is OUR Community Dollar?
OUR Community Dollar (OC$) is a complementary currency — a locally issued dollar that works alongside the Canadian dollar, not instead of it. Think of it as a loyalty program supercharged with real purchasing power: every OC$ you receive is a dollar you spend at a participating local business.
By keeping dollars circulating inside OUR Local Community, OC$ builds a self-reinforcing local economy where businesses gain customers, shoppers gain value, and the whole community grows stronger together.
4 Steps to a Thriving Community
From joining to community impact — here is exactly how OC$ flows through our local economy.
The OC$ cycle — value circulates continuously within our community
Join the Program
Choose your membership type — OC$ Shopper or OC$ Business. Shoppers join for $30 + HST/membership and immediately receive OC$ Complimentary Currency as part of their welcome package. Businesses join at a tier that matches their size and receive OC$ to use and re-distribute as purchases, rewards, and promotions.
Once you're a member, you have access to the OC$ network: a directory of local businesses that accept OC$, a Give & Get Marketplace to exchange goods and services, and community events that bring members together.
Spend OC$
Use your OC$ as partial or full payment at any participating local business in the directory. OC$ is accepted exactly like cash — the business records the transaction, and you pay the remainder (if any) in Canadian dollars.
Every time you spend OC$ at a local business, you're reinforcing the local economy: the business uses those OC$ to pay their own suppliers, staff bonuses, or promotions — keeping the cycle alive.
The OC$ Give & Get Marketplace™
The OC$ Give & Get Marketplace™ platform will allow members in good standing to post items for sale for anyone who has OC$ currency to spend.
This platform is like an online garage sale where sellers can move individual items. It is not a platform to promote products and services covered in the OC$ Online Business Directory.
Sellers must accept a minimum of 10% OC$. The greater percentage of local currency accepted, the greater the possibility of completing the sale.
This platform supports the environment and helps create new relationships within our community!
Community Impact
Every OC$ transaction strengthens OUR local economy. When money stays in the community, it multiplies — local businesses hire local people, who shop at local stores, who support local charities. OC$ creates a self-reinforcing cycle of community prosperity.
The impact grows with every member: more businesses accepting OC$, more shoppers receiving and spending locally, more community events, and a stronger regional economy that keeps 100% of its value circulating right here — in OUR community.