Hi @Louise65 I’m also a solo female sitter from Ontario. There are many posts on this forum that can give you excellent suggestions - the one from @mars is the first one to take care of, in my opinion.
It’s good that you’re first trying for relatively local ones. Make sure your application is tailored to the homeowner’s priorities, and that means going beyond just the listing. Yes, address the points in their listing, and show how your skills from outside of THS fit well (and make sure they do). Also make sure to mention the names of the pets, rather than ‘your dogs’, for example.
Then, if the homeowners have had previous sitters, take time to read both the sitter and homeowners reviews. If the homeowner said ‘wow, she even did X’ and you can do it, then mention it. Your application and your listing are your combined sales pitch. Also make sure you have relevant references. I think I had more than 10 references online before my first sit. Lastly - be patient. Many sitters do not get a sitter within their first month, and yet go on to do many successful sits. Once you have your first review, it gets easier.
When you do get your first sit, please come back and let us know as we do love to hear about that. 