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December 3, 2024|News

Lindsay Named New Metrolinx Interim President, CEO; Verster Steps Down (UPDATED 12/6)

Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Michael Lindsay (left) has been named Metrolinx's interim President and CEO, effective Dec. 16, following the resignation of Phil Verster (right). (Images Courtesy of Metrolinx and LinkedIn)
The Ontario government has named Michael Lindsay as the new interim President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Metrolinx following the resignation of Phil Verster who has accepted a new position and will be moving on from the agency after seven years as early as Dec. 16.

Lindsay, who has been given a clear mandate by Premier Doug Ford with opening Eglinton Crosstown as his top priority, will move over to Metrolinx on Dec. 9 to begin supporting the transition process.

“With his many years of service helping to build our great province as President and Chief Executive Officer of Infrastructure Ontario [IO], no one is better positioned to take on this role than Michael,” said Premier Doug Ford. “I have given Michael a clear mandate to open Eglinton Crosstown as soon as it is safe to do so. That is his top priority.”

Metrolinx appointed Verster, a 2024 Railway Age Readers’ Most Influential Leaders honoree, as its new CEO on Aug. 24, 2017, following his resignation as Managing Director of ScotRail Alliance, the operator of Scotland’s passenger rail service. During his tenure as Metrolinx CEO, he oversaw “years of delays” in the opening of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the Finch West LRT, according to a Toronto Star report, which has provided a timeline of Verster’s term at the agency.

“I want to thank Phil for his many years of service to Ontario,” said Premier Ford. “Phil led and supported explosive growth in transit construction, including the largest expansion of public transit in North America. The transportation landscape in Ontario will be permanently better because of his contributions.”

The Metrolinx Board of Directors will begin a search for a permanent President and CEO. The Interim President and CEO at IO is Angela Clayton.

“Angela is well respected inside and outside IO and has demonstrated many successes in her role as President, Project Delivery [at IO],” IO Board Chair David Lindsay reported in a Dec. 5 announcement of her new role. “Her exceptional leadership has driven the evolution of our Project Delivery team to deploy a wide variety of models and approaches to deliver critical, complex, and transformative projects … The Board of Directors is deeply appreciative of Michael and Angela’s commitment to public service and agreeing to step into these roles that are vital to advancing the most ambitious infrastructure plan in the history of this province.”