Tetra Trust Company, a financial services provider in Canada specializing in digital technology, has introduced CADD, a stablecoin pegged to the Canadian dollar. This initiative is recognized by the Alberta Treasury Board and Finance as the first CAD-pegged stablecoin from a regulated institution in the country. Tetra assures that reserves are safeguarded under Canadian law for redemption purposes. The token operates on major blockchains such as Base, Ethereum, and Tempo, with plans to integrate Solana support.
In September 2025, Tetra raised $10 million for this project, with notable backers including Shopify, Wealthsimple, Purpose Unlimited, Shakepay, ATB Financial, National Bank of Canada, and Urbana Corporation. The latter holds a majority stake in the consortium backing this launch.
Tetra conducted testnet transactions between Wealthsimple and National Bank in December, marking the first movement of a Canadian stablecoin between financial institutions. CADD is designed for institutional applications like 24/7 cross-border settlements, real-time corporate treasury transfers, marketplace payouts, and direct fintech-to-fintech settlements without correspondent banking delays.
The introduction of CADD comes as no surprise given the rapid growth in the stablecoin sector over recent years, despite a lack of regulated Canadian options. Tetra notes that Canada handles about $424 billion daily on outdated batch infrastructure systems from the 1980s, while USD-denominated stablecoins dominate due to the absence of domestic alternatives.
The global stablecoin transaction volume exceeded $27 trillion in 2025, surpassing Visa’s annual payment volume, with a market cap of $320 billion dominated by USD stablecoins as per DeFiLlama.
In Canada, competition is limited. Stablecorp, supported by Coinbase Ventures, submitted QCAD for approval to the Ontario Securities Commission and received clearance in December, though it remains unavailable broadly. Meanwhile, Loon, originating from Paytrie, acquired CADC—a stablecoin launched in 2021 with over $200 million in transaction volume. Before pre-filing a prospectus with Alberta’s Securities Commission, Loon raised $3 million during its pre-seed phase.
Tetra Trust holds the distinction of being Canada’s first regulated digital asset custodian and provides custody for the nation’s initial staking-enabled ether and solana ETFs.