How to Become a Model in Toronto:
Requirements, Open Calls and Applying.

Most of what gets written about becoming a model is either discouraging or invented. The useful version is narrower: a handful of Toronto agencies publish their actual requirements on their own websites, and if you read those pages you can tell within about ten minutes which boards you qualify for and what to send them.

That is what this page does. Every number below was read off the agency's own submission page on 12 October 2026 and is attributed to the agency that published it. Nothing here is an industry average, because industry averages are how people end up applying to the wrong board. For who the agencies are and what each one represents, read the Toronto agency guide first — this page is about whether you qualify and how the process runs.

Height: what Toronto agencies actually publish

Of the eight agencies in our Toronto agency guide, two publish a height range outright, and both publish it for their fashion boards:

• Sutherland Models asks for 5'7"–5'11" for women and non-binary applicants, and 6'–6'3" for men (sutherlandmodels.com/apply).
• LeDrew Model & Talent's current scouting call asks for 5'8"–6' for women and girls, 6'–6'3" for men and boys, and over 5'9" for non-binary applicants (ledrewmodels.com).

Two things follow from that, and the second one matters more than the first.

The first is that the fashion window is genuinely narrow, and it is narrow at both ends. Being taller than the range is a reason to be turned down too, which surprises people who have been told height is the only thing that counts.

The second is that the agencies without a published range are mostly not screening on one. M Models and Talent asks for your height as a required field on its application form but states no minimum, and describes its roster as "a wide demographic, ranging from children to adults". WANT Management's Get Scouted form does not ask for your height at all — it asks for your name, contact details, city, postal code, date of birth, place of birth, whether you were scouted, and your Instagram handle, and that is the whole form. An agency that does not ask is an agency that is not casting on it.

Which board you are actually applying to

Agencies are not single rosters. They are several boards under one name, each with its own casting logic, and applying to the wrong one is the most common avoidable mistake.

Anita Norris Models is the clearest illustration: its site splits Women and Men each into Image, Main and Development boards, runs a separate Talent division for digital and commercial work, and runs children's boards in both Toronto and Montreal. One application form, five or six quite different answers to the question "do they want me".

The practical version is this. Fashion and editorial boards are the ones with the published height ranges and a narrow age window. Commercial and talent boards cast for advertising, and advertising needs every age, size and look, which is why those boards are the largest. Development boards exist specifically for people who are not placement-ready yet, and an agency that runs one is structurally more open to a first application than one with only a main board.

M Models says plainly on its application page that it is "scouting new faces for fashion, editorial, and commercial modeling" — three boards, one form. Read the division list before you write anything, and say in your submission which board you are applying for.

Age, and what applicants under 18 need

Both agencies that publish an age also publish a floor of 14. Sutherland states "Age 14+" and requires a parent's email address from anyone under 18. LeDrew states "Ages 14+ (under 18 requires parental consent)" and aims its current scouting call at 14 to 23.

That 14-to-23 figure is a fashion scouting window, not the industry's. Commercial and talent boards represent children through adults because advertising does, and M Models' own description of its roster — children to adults — is the honest shape of the market. "Am I too old" is almost always a question about the fashion boards specifically.

If you are under 18, the consent requirement is not a formality to work around. Both agencies want a parent or guardian in the loop from the application onward, and an agency that is willing to sign a minor without one is telling you something about itself. For the photo session side of it, our own studio policy requires anyone under 16 to be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times.

Open calls versus applying online

None of the agencies we checked advertises the walk-in open call of modelling folklore, where you queue outside an office on a Thursday afternoon. What they publish instead is a mix of online submission and in-person scouting by appointment.

LeDrew's scouting is a good example of the current shape: in-person Toronto scouting is by appointment, booked through a link in the agency's Instagram stories, and its own call tells people who do not meet the age or height requirements, or who cannot attend in person, to apply online instead. The in-person route is not a better route. It is a route for the narrow board.

So the realistic process is:

1. Apply through the agency's own form. Every major Toronto agency has one — an Apply page, a Get Scouted page, a Become a Model page. You do not need an introduction and you do not need an existing agent.
2. Follow their instructions exactly. They differ more than you would expect. Sutherland wants two specific photographs. M Models has three upload slots and a set of optional measurement fields. WANT wants no photographs at the form stage at all.
3. Apply to several boards at once. You are not in an exclusive relationship until you are signed.
4. Follow up once, after about two weeks. After that, a non-response is a no — for this roster, at this moment, which is not the same as a verdict. Rosters turn over; reapplying in six to twelve months with better photos is normal.

Watch for one thing on the in-person route. Sutherland's application page carries its own warning that people contact applicants online and by text claiming to represent the agency, gives a phone number to verify against, and states flatly: "We NEVER ask for lingerie or nude photos." Treat any approach that arrives in your DMs as unverified until you have called the agency's published number.

What to send

The photographs are the one part of the application you fully control, and agencies are specific about wanting them plain. Sutherland asks for "fresh, natural photos" taken in natural daylight in something form-fitting: a close-up of the face, smiling, with minimal or no makeup, and a full-length shot of the whole body. M Models asks for "recent shots" and says outright that they "do not need to be professional".

These are digitals, not headshots, and the difference is the thing first-time applicants get wrong most often. A digital is a plain record of what you look like — no dramatic lighting, no retouching, no styling. What agency digitals actually are covers the standard four-shot set, and what to wear for modeling digitals covers the clothing, which is simpler and stricter than people expect. If you are weighing digitals against a portfolio shoot at this stage, the first-timer's guide to modeling headshots is the comparison.

What a bad submission looks like is not an unprofessional photo. It is a heavily edited one, a flattering angle, or a photo two years old — all three of which read as someone managing an impression, which is the opposite of the information an agency is trying to get.

What a legitimate agency charges — and what it never does

A real agency earns a commission when you work. It does not earn anything when you sign up, which is why money moving from you to them before you have booked a job is the industry's most reliable warning sign. M Models states on its own site that the agency "covers the costs associated with building and maintaining a professional portfolio" — that is the normal direction of travel.

Ontario publishes the rules, and they are more specific than most people realise. The province's modelling and talent agencies — your rights page sets out that:

• Every fee and charge must be stated in your contract, and must be what it says it is.
• Initiation fees cannot exceed twice your total annual fees.
• You can cancel a modelling or acting development contract within ten days of receiving a written copy, for any reason, without giving one — in writing, and keep proof you sent it.
• You can cancel within one year if the contract was missing required information or you were never given a copy.
• Contracts must end after one year, and renewal requires a notice sent 30 to 90 days before expiry.
• The protections apply to any contract requiring you to pay $50 or more in advance.

On photographs the province is blunter than we would be: "If a talent agency wants you to pay for photos up front, walk away." It also flags agencies that refuse to use a portfolio you already have, and agencies that require classes.

The practical consequence is worth stating plainly, from a photographer with an obvious interest in it: your photos are yours. You choose who shoots them, when, and what you pay. An agency suggesting photographers is ordinary. An agency requiring you to pay its photographer before it will represent you is the single clearest signal to stop.

Frequently asked questions

I'm 5'8" — can I model in Toronto?

Yes, and for the fashion boards specifically you are inside both published ranges: Sutherland asks 5'7"–5'11" for women and non-binary applicants, and LeDrew asks 5'8"–6' for women. If you are shorter than that, the fashion boards are the ones you miss, not modelling — commercial print and talent work publishes no height requirement at all, and WANT Management's application form does not even ask for your height.

Am I too old to start modelling?

Only for fashion, and only if you are past its window — LeDrew's current scouting call is aimed at 14 to 23. Commercial, lifestyle and talent boards cast every age because advertising needs every age, and M Models describes its own roster as ranging from children to adults. The question is which board, not whether.

How do I apply to a Toronto modeling agency?

Through the agency's own form — an Apply, Get Scouted or Become a Model page, which every major Toronto agency has. Send a clean set of digitals and your real stats, name the board you are applying for, apply to several agencies at once, and follow up once after two weeks. No introduction or existing representation is needed.

Do I have to attend an open call in person?

No. Walk-in open calls have largely been replaced by online submission plus in-person scouting by appointment — LeDrew books its Toronto scouting through a link in its Instagram stories, and directs anyone who cannot attend, or who falls outside the age and height requirements, to apply online instead. The online route is the main one, not the consolation one.

Is there petite modelling in Toronto?

No Toronto agency we have checked runs a petite-specific board. The working route for shorter models is commercial print and lifestyle work, where casting is about being a believable person in an advertisement rather than fitting a sample size — which is also the larger half of the market. See the agency guide for which boards each agency actually runs.

What do I need before I apply?

A current set of digitals and your real measurements, nothing else. Not a portfolio, not a comp card, not classes. If an agency tells you otherwise before it has represented you, re-read the fees section above.