Call For Lead Tour Guide & Urban Historian

Application Deadline: Sunday, August 9th, 2026 – 5PM EST

Contract Position | Toronto, ON
Tour Date: September 1, 2026 – 8:45am – 3pm
Compensation: $1,250–$1,500 flat fee, based on experience
Lunch provided

The Yonge + St. Clair BIA, in collaboration with Midtown Yonge BIA, Rosedale Main Street BIA, and Bloor-Yorkville BIA, is seeking an engaging and knowledgeable tour guide to help lead a full-day tour of Yonge Street as part of the 2026 International Downtown Association (IDA) Annual Conference.

Yonge Street: A Corridor of Time will take an international audience of downtown leaders, urban professionals, and place management practitioners on a journey from Eglinton to Yorkville, exploring how one of Toronto’s most iconic streets has evolved into a series of distinctly different urban environments.

The tour will move through locally supported main streets in Davisville, active intensification at Yonge + St. Clair, heritage-protected areas in Rosedale and Summerhill, and Yorkville’s historic village fabric layered within a contemporary vertical district. Along the way, participants will visit local businesses, heritage landmarks, public spaces, and cultural institutions that bring the corridor’s evolution to life.

The Role

We are looking for someone who can serve as the narrative thread connecting the entire six-hour experience. Working alongside representatives from each BIA and individual tour-stop hosts, the selected guide will:

Conduct thorough research to develop and deliver an engaging historical and urban narrative connecting the different neighbourhoods along Yonge Street.
Provide context on the corridor’s evolution, including its early development, village main streets, transit infrastructure, architecture, planning, cultural history, and changing urban form.
Introduce and transition between neighbourhoods and tour stops, helping participants understand how each location contributes to the larger story.
Facilitate discussion and engage with a professional international audience throughout the day.
Collaborate with the four participating BIAs in advance to refine the tour narrative and avoid overlap with presentations from local representatives and stop hosts.
Participate in a pre-tour walkthrough and briefing prior to September 1.

The successful candidate will be a confident storyteller with strong knowledge of Toronto history and an ability to connect historical events to the city people experience today. Experience in architecture, urban planning, heritage, cultural history, or leading professional walking tours would be considered an asset.

This is an opportunity to help tell the story of Yonge Street beyond downtown, introducing an international audience to the history, people, places, and decisions that have shaped Midtown Toronto.

Submission Instructions

Deadline: Sunday, August 9th, 2026 – 5PM EST

To apply, please submit a brief introduction outlining your relevant experience, examples of previous tours or interpretive work, and your proposed fee.

Email: [email protected]

Subject Line: Lead IDA Tour Guide 2026 – Your Name

We look forward to finding an engaging storyteller who can bring Yonge Street’s history and evolution to life for an international audience.