Montreal Port Authority names ex-exec as CEO, as leadership questions linger

Shipping containers at the Port of Montreal are photographed in Montreal on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

MONTREAL — The Montreal Port Authority on Friday named an executive who left exactly two months ago as its new CEO, as questions over leadership turnover continue to trouble the waters of the organization amid a major expansion.

Former chief operating officer Paul Bird will step into the top spot on June 8, the authority said, giving him a few weeks to leave his newly minted managerial role at Alto, the Crown corporation in charge of Canada’s high-speed rail project.

The appointment comes less than three weeks after the chief financial officer stepped down and six weeks after then-chief executive Julie Gascon exited.

Announced without explanation by the port authority barely two years into her tenure on the day of her departure, Gascon’s exit raised leadership questions that prompted the House of Commons transport committee to call on the three former executives to testify, including Bird.

In a news release, board chairwoman Nathalie Pilon said the incoming CEO is “fully committed” to the port’s container terminal expansion at Contrecoeur, Que., the first of the federal government’s fast-tracked projects to get off the ground.

“The board of directors has full confidence in his appointment and assures him of its support,” Pilon said.

As for Gascon’s departure, “we won’t be providing additional details on the circumstances,” said authority spokesman Julien Baudry in an email.

“There was no wrongdoing. This is a private matter protected by confidentiality.”

The C-suite changes come after a half-decade of lagging shipping container volumes at the facility, which has seen multiple labour strikes since 2020.

However, container volumes last year rose significantly for the first time since 2021, increasing nearly four per cent to outpace global trade growth projections for the year, according to the port authority.

Last month, the federal government authorized a $1.16-billion loan through the Canada Infrastructure Bank for the major port expansion just downriver from Montreal.

The project will increase the port’s capacity by 60 per cent with a massive storage yard and a 675-metre wharf featuring two ship berths, amounting to what the government called the largest eastern port expansion in Canadian history.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2026.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press