Call for Writers – Blog Content
Blog Content Writer (Contract) 24-Post Series | yongestclair.ca/blog
Deadline To Apply: Sunday, August 16th, 2026 – 5:00pm EST
About the Opportunity
The Yonge + St. Clair BIA represents the businesses and commercial property owners of midtown Toronto’s Yonge and St. Clair district. The BIA exists to work across four pillars: District Identity, District Vitality, District Reputation, and District Advocacy through advocating for the commercial + economic health of the local businesses community, building a cohesive public realm, hosting free public events, and providing marketing opportunities to attract and sustain new visitors.
We are seeking interested freelance writers, journalists, urbanists, marketing copywriters, and local storytellers to submit proposals for a writing engagement producing 24 original blog posts for yongestclair.ca/blog. The blog plays a practical role in marketing + communications: strengthening the BIA’s visibility in Google search across topics connected to our four pillars, and giving residents, visitors, office workers, and member businesses a reason to spend time with the neighbourhood’s unique characteristics.
Why now? Redevelopment is reshaping Yonge + St. Clair right now. This blog content tells the story of a district that’s already livable, walkable, and worth visiting to thousands of readers across our website, newsletter, and social channels.
Please note before applying: this is a ghost-writing engagement. Posts are published in the BIA’s institutional voice with no byline, and all content becomes the exclusive property of the BIA as work made for hire.
The Voice: Writing as the Neighbourhood
Yonge + St. Clair has long been a place where people, ideas, and city life intersect. The blog should read like it comes from someone who knows the neighbourhood well. We are looking for writing that is approachable, plainspoken, and genuinely curious about city life and supportive of local storefront and office businesses: free of bureaucratic stiffness or hard-sell marketing tones. Writers are invited to bring their own perspective on urbanism, local business, and urban life to the work. Some example references are provided within this document to guide content creation, and the BIA retains final editorial control over all published content.
Content Categories
Posts will draw from the following categories, balanced across the 24 articles. The objectives of each content category varies, but are not mutually exclusive. Some goals include but are not limited to: driving visitation to local businesses and/or points of interest, deepening audience perspectives of the area, encouraging neighbourhood discovery, and more.
- Restaurants and Eats
- Retail and Professional Services
- Locally Significant Spotlights (i.e. Q+A interviews)
- Informative pieces (e.g. Top 5 lists)
- Local History and Heritage
- Arts and Culture
- Streetscape and Urban Planning
- Architecture and Design
Scope of Work
- 24 written blog posts, roughly 500-1,000 words each, written for web and SEO best practices and a clear search intent behind each piece with suggestions for relevant photography.
- Content goals: Content pieces must respond to the key objectives associated with the Content Categories (above), which serve to promote the existing and future potential of this constantly evolving community + neighbourhood. BIA can provide further guidance on content objectives. Post structure should demonstrate adequate consistency, based on existing reference articles or as agreed upon.
- Yonge + St. Clair business district focus: The BIA exists to promote the livability, perception and commercial competitiveness within its district boundaries. The large majority (~70%) of featured business, areas of interest and other commercial entities must be based within the defined region [link] when structuring articles.
- “Evergreen” content approach: the writer proposes topics that should, within reason, still remain relevant to public audiences months after it is published. The BIA can provide keyword briefs; the writer brings content relevancy, and functional SEO judgement to headings, and phrasing.
- Research expectations: primarily online research pieces with occasional first-hand work: emails or phone exchanges with a member business for spotlight posts, or a walk through the district for relevant pieces. The BIA can provide additional context to supplement articles, contact information, and photography.
- Deliverables: each post delivered as a Google Doc or Word file, along with suggested meta title and description, URL slug, and relevant link suggestions. The BIA handles all content scheduling, web-platform inputs, and supplying photography.
- Revisions and turnaround: one round of revisions per post.
Budget
The total budget for this engagement is up to $5,000.00 CAD (inclusive of HST, all writing fees, revisions, and any local travel). Applicants should propose a rate in the range of $150-$200 per post. Applicants are encouraged to propose only the rate necessary to deliver the work well; preference will be given to proposals that demonstrate strong value within the stated range. The writer is engaged as an independent contractor and is responsible for their own taxes, HST registration where applicable, and insurance if applicable.
Writer Considerations
Successful proposals should demonstrate:
- Clear, engaging prose and genuine familiarity with the Yonge + St. Clair or Toronto neighbourhoods, business vitality, urbanism, or place or people-based storytelling.
- The ability to write credibly in an institutional voice that sounds relatable.
- Working SEO literacy: keyword intent, on-page structure, metadata, and internal linking.
- Capacity to sustain an average delivery schedule of two posts per week reliably for the full series, and comfort with ghost-writing terms.
- Value within the stated per-post budget rate range.
Writer Originality + Other Considerations
Drafts must be substantially the writer’s own work. AI tools may support research, outlining, or editing and should be disclosed if requested.
Writers with a connection to the Yonge + St. Clair neighbourhoods are encouraged to apply and may make strong candidates – please state such connections in your submission.
Eligibility
This opportunity is open to emerging and established writers working across journalism, urbanism, blogging, content marketing, and related practices. Due to the type of local research and/or on-the-ground observation in the district, preference will be given to applicants based in Toronto, or those able to visit the neighbourhood.
Term, Deliverables and Deadlines
The engagement runs a maximum of 3 months – August to October 31, 2026 – but can end sooner if all 24 posts have been completed and approved. There is a preference to maintain a minimum delivery schedule of 2 posts per week starting from the agreed upon start date. The BIA will schedule and publish articles according to its content calendar.
Timeline
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| July 17, 2026 | RFP posted |
| August 16, 2026 5pm EST | Submission deadline |
| August 17-20, 2026 | BIA Committee Deliberation Period |
| August 21, 2026 | Writer selected |
| August 28, 2026 (TBD) | First posts submitted |
| Approx. Oct 31, 2026 (TBD) | Series concludes (24 posts total) |
Proposal Requirements
Submit one (1) PDF 2 – 3 pages maximum, containing:
- Writer Information: your name, phone number, email, base location, and a brief bio (maximum 300 words), including any connection to midtown Toronto or the Yonge and St. Clair area.
- Approach Note: a note (half page) on how you approach writing in an institutional voice that sounds approachable and relatable, and how you think about SEO in your drafting process.
- Writing Samples: (half page to full page) demonstrating and/or describing the relevance of your portfolio and/or selected writing samples that are most relevant to this contract and its objectives.
- Fee Confirmation: your proposed per-post rate within the $150-$200/per post range, and your availability to deliver 24 posts.
Submission Instructions
Submit proposals electronically via email, Dropbox, or Google Drive link.
Deadline: Sunday August 16th, 2026 5:00pm EST
Send to Email: [email protected]
Subject Line: Blog Writer RFP – [Your Name]
We look forward to receiving proposals from writers who can help tell the evolving story of Yonge + St. Clair one post at a time.
Yonge + St. Clair BIA
yongestclair.ca
[email protected]
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