Canada's first regulated digital dollar just launched, and some institutions are already on board
For the first time, Canadians can settle payments, hold, and transact in a dollar-pegged digital asset built and regulated entirely within Canada.
The institutions backing it include National Bank, Shopify, and Wealthsimple.
Tetra Digital Group launched CADD on Monday, BNN Bloomberg reported.
It is the first stablecoin issued by a licensed Canadian trust company under a framework approved by the Alberta Treasury Board and Finance.
The coin is pegged 1:1 to the Canadian dollar, with all reserves held at Canadian financial institutions including tier one banks.
The launch comes as Visa Canada and Wealthsimple separately announced the country's first stablecoin settlement pilot, allowing Wealthsimple to satisfy certain obligations with Visa Canada in USD Coin (USDC).
Visa said its global stablecoin settlement program recently surpassed a US$7bn annualised run rate.
“Canada is a natural home for what comes next,” said Michiel Wielhouwer, president and country manager of Visa Canada, in a press release.
CEO Didier Lavallée told BNN Bloomberg that stablecoin growth has “primarily benefited the US market,” leaving Canadians to buy domestic assets through American stablecoins and absorb foreign exchange costs.
CADD targets those users directly, he said — people who want to use “their native currency” rather than converting to US dollars “just for the sake of using stablecoin rails.”
On the audit and compliance side, Lavallée said an external financial auditor will conduct monthly reviews, with results published as public attestations, alongside unannounced random checks.
“The entire institution or vehicle is governed and controlled by a financial regulator as well,” he said.
Despite the momentum, a dedicated federal stablecoin framework does not yet exist.
Reuters reported that Canada's Stablecoin Act passed two months ago but does not take effect until 2027, and the Bank of Canada told the Senate on Wednesday that regulations could realistically land in mid- or late 2027 — later than the early 2027 target previously floated.
Senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers said the design process is “well underway right now.”
Until the framework arrives, Lavallée said Tetra believes it has the “right to distribute broadly at the federal level” and that its current prudential structure is “the best alignment that Canadians can get today.”
His longer-term goal, he told BNN Bloomberg, is for stablecoins to be treated as payment instruments rather than securities.
