Consultant – Queenston Affordable Grocery Project (Stage 1)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS:

Feasibility Study, Community Consultation, and Business Plan

Development for the Queenston Affordable Grocery Project (Stage 1)

Issue Date: Friday February 6, 2026

Proposal Submission Deadline: Sunday February 22, 2026

Objectives

We are seeking a qualified business consultant/consulting team—who has strong experience and understanding of the social determinants of health. The ideal candidate(s) will bring a background in social enterprise/business development, business and operational planning, comparing models and feasibility assessments, and demonstrated skills in diverse, meaningful community engagement.

Experience engaging directly with neighbours who have experienced food insecurity, particularly at the hyper-local or neighbourhood level, will be especially valuable.

The Queenston Affordable Grocery Project emerges directly from community voices—neighbours who have long expressed the need for affordable, walkable access to healthy and culturally appropriate basic grocery purchasing options in their neighbourhood.

The consultant will be responsible to lead Stage 1, which includes:

1. Conduct a comprehensive feasibility analysis of a small-scale, affordable grocery purchasing option that could be viable in the Queenston neighbourhood of St. Catharines, ON.
2. Engage deeply and respectfully with the neighbourhood, including both residents with lived experience of food insecurity as well as entities providing food to ensure the process reflects the unique community priorities and needs and compliments existing food related options.
3. Develop a business planning process and outline viable model(s) that could serve as a preventative response to local food insecurity.

At the conclusion of Stage 1, the consultant will deliver a final strategic proposal/business plan as well as a community friendly version that will be brought back to Queenston Neighbours, enabling them to determine next steps and guide the project’s movement toward a community driven, walkable, affordable grocery‑solution.

Community Background

The Queenston neighbourhood is a close-knit, traditionally working-class community with a strong history of people living and working locally, where neighbours connect in a welcoming front-porch culture while coming together to navigate the shared challenges of rising food and housing costs. At the same time, the community faces significant pressures, including a large, unhoused population with encampments and visible drug use, heavy reliance on social services for daily food access, limited affordable food options in a food-desert context. If you don’t have a car it is difficult to get groceries, and struggling local businesses are impacted by low foot traffic.

Multiple community organizations and churches are already collaborating to provide hot meal options 365 days a year and there are very limited affordable food purchasing options. (check out QN calendar to find existing options in neighbourhood)

The community has been talking about the desire for a walkable grocery store for at least 7 years. MCC partnered with The Queenston Neighbours, to co-create the Community Mobilizer role in order to strengthen the community voice and capacity of the neighbourhood. Tim Shields, a Queenston resident who had already been volunteering extensively by convening residents, coordinating the Queenston Neighbours, and facilitating the Queenston Roundtable, was invited into the role based on the trust he had built, his deep local relationships, and his demonstrated leadership. Through discussions with the Queenston Roundtable, the community expressed support for MCC funding and engaging a consultant to deliver stage 1: a strategic proposal/business plan for a future Queenston affordable grocery project.

The Partners

Queenston Roundtable (QR) is a working group within the Queenston Neighbours (QN) of St Catharines, ON, a neighbourhood association. The QR is residents and local partners who meet monthly working in an asset-based way to: share information and strengths, collaborate on activities that build community, advocate for neighbourhood needs, and guide long-term community goals. The QR focuses on building on the strengths already present and works to include residents’ voices to lead decision-making and lasting change. QN have long advocated for a neighbourhood, affordable option for purchasing groceries.

Mennonite Central Committee Ontario (MCC Ontario) is a faith-based, non-profit organization that focuses on growing partnerships and relationships, and making local impact in projects related to community development, relief, and peacebuilding initiatives locally and globally. Two MCC Ontario staff are focused on collaborating with the strengths and partners in the Queenston neighbourhood to compliment the community-driven solutions, food security, affordability and social cohesion.

Steering Committee: Conveyed by 2 MCC staff (Tim Shields and Laurie Warkentin), the steering committee is composed of local experts, including individuals with lived experience, business leaders, municipal representatives, Indigenous leadership, and neighbourhood food access partners. The steering committee’s role will be to provide feedback to MCC and the consultant on the consultant’s progress and final recommendations.

Scope of Work

Feasibility Assessment and Community Engagement:

Compare various models, and evaluate the viability and best model(s) of establishing a small-scale affordable grocery store or pantry, including financial, considering community needs, and market and sustainability considerations.

Engage neighbours in the Queenston Neighbourhood using various methods such as focus groups, surveys, one on one interviews, and where needed involve community stakeholders and partners to ensure we reach a wide range of those with living experience of food insecurity (newcomers/ESL, seniors on fixed income, parents, BIPOC, diverse mobility needs, etc) to ensure alignment with local needs and priorities.

Identify collaboration opportunities with other affordable food purchasing options in the neighbourhood.

Various affordable grocery models/social enterprises considered to address food insecurity within the community as well as potential alternatives such as providing transportation or bulk purchasing of certain items.

Business Model and Sustainability Planning:

Develop a sustainable business plan that incorporates pricing strategies, local supply chain options, and a practical system for identifying and engaging the initiative’s core customer base.

A volunteer strategy, outlining roles for staffing.

Volunteering as a pathway to build community belonging, meaning, and understanding between people.

Governance Framework:

Identify licensing, regulatory requirements, food safety, retail requirements, and operational considerations.

Final Recommendations and Report:

Integrate all findings into clear, actionable business proposals including recommendations for future steps.

Present a full report to the steering committee and prepare a community-friendly summary for Queenston Neighbours.

Outside of Scope

See food desert map as specific neighbourhood boundaries this project is aiming to positively impact (think of Connaught Public School as the heart of the neighbourhood).

This project is not a food bank, food handout, or community meal program; those supports already exist locally. Instead, it aims to complement them by offering a preventative option—affordable, walkable access to healthy and culturally appropriate groceries for purchase.

Timelines and Deadlines (negotiable)

The consultant is expected to begin in Mid/end of March 2026 and conclude by end of Sept 2026 (TBD with chosen consultant)

Feb 6-22: RFP out for tender

Mid-March: Consultant chosen

End of March 2026: Consultant to start by meeting with Steering Committee: Research questions finalized, along with list of stakeholders and comparables to consult and conduct research

End of May: Update on Feasibility Assessment and community engagement to date

End of June: Suggested Business Model(s) and final feasibility assessment findings due

July: Volunteer Strategy (including volunteer roles for staffing)

August: Governance framework due

September: Final Strategic Proposal/Report due. Present to steering committee and provide community friendly summary presentation for Queenston Neighbours.

Consultant Qualifications

Demonstrated experience in business planning and feasibility studies

Expertise in food security initiatives, social enterprise and retail operations

Strong community engagement and facilitation skills, multiple strategies and ways to engage working/low- income households experiencing gaps between income and food costs

Experience engaging respectfully with people impacted by social and economic inequities, experience and understanding of the social determinants of health

Ability to navigate licensing and regulatory frameworks Proof of Liability Insurance

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on qualifications, relevant experience, approaches to collaborative community engagement and involvement, and cost-effectiveness. Priority given to Niagara based proposals.

Evaluation rubric (Total 100 points):

Assesses the consultant/team’s formal training, demonstrated skills, and alignment with required competencies (e.g., feasibility analysis, social enterprise planning, understanding/experience of social determinants of health).

25 points

Relevant Experience

25 points

Community

Engagement

Approach

30 points

Cost-

Effectiveness

Niagara-Based Preference

As stated in the RFP, priority is given to Niagara based proposals.

5 points

Budget Information

The proposal must include a full budget and be inclusive of all consultant fees, subcontractors, materials, travel, and administrative costs.

How to Submit:

Email proposals to lauriewarkentin@mcco.ca. Proposals accepted between February 6-22, 2026.

Subject line: RFP Submission - Queenston Affordable Grocery Project (Stage 1)

Include cover letter, team bios, project approach, specifics on community engagement strategy, suggested timeline/workplan, budget, budget and references (could highlight previous similar work as well as contact person).

Contact Information

For questions or clarifications, please contact:

Laurie Warkentin, Community Learning and Engagement Facilitator, MCC Ontario

Email: lauriewarkentin@mcco.ca

Research Questions

Relevance: Does the plan include the right things?

Is a small-scale affordable grocery the right, community‑driven response to food insecurity in

Queenston—and how does it uniquely address priority needs without duplicating existing work?

Coherence: how well does the intervention fit?

Does the affordable grocery initiative logically fit within the existing neighbourhood ecosystem—and does MCC Ontario, community partners and municipal gov’t have clear, unique roles that collaborate and complement this project rather than duplicate current efforts?

Effectiveness: is there a clear pathway for the intervention to achieve its objectives?

Is there a clear and achievable pathway for this initiative to reach its intended outcomes, given our current strategies, capacities, and ways of organizing the work?

Impact: what difference does the intervention make?

What meaningful difference do neighbours believe this initiative can make in addressing food insecurity, and how well does it align with the outcomes we aim to achieve?

Efficiency: how would resources be used?

Are financial and human resources structured and used in a sustainable, effective way that maximizes the initiative’s impact. Is the plan adaptable to learning and evolving?

Sustainability: will the benefits last?

Are the core resources, partnerships, and structures in place to sustain the initiative over time — and what learning from this work can strengthen MCC Ontario’s partnership opportunities?