How a city joins

No city has joined, and the process below is itself a proposal, published early so it can be criticized early. The proposed path has four steps. First, local interest: a handful of independent businesses in a community say they would voluntarily honour the voucher under published rules. Second, a local steward: a named person or organization agrees to keep the program’s public ledger honest and its rules current.

Third, civic awareness: the municipal council is informed. Participation would not require a bylaw, because a community voucher is voluntary and is not legal tender, but a program that surprises its own city hall has already failed. Fourth, the map: the community appears on PennyMap with an honest status, exploring first and pilot only when the real pieces exist, never a step ahead of reality.

There would be no franchise fee and no head office; each city’s program would be locally run, with paperpenny.ca holding the shared rules and verification ledger. Owen Sound, Ontario is the proposed first test of this whole sequence. Until a real pilot proves or breaks the model, treat this page as a draft constitution: the order of steps is a promise, and the details are open to change.

How the Paper Penny QR system would work (PaperPenny.ca) · Owen Sound: the proposed first penny city