By Leo Ryan, Editor
The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) today announced the appointment effective June 7 of Paul Bird as new President and CEO, reflecting a move towards renewed leadership stability following a period of turbulence this spring punctuated by the reported dismissal on April 3 of Julie Gascon.
Prior to the announcement that Julie Gascon had “ceased her position” as chief executive since February 2024, Mr. Bird had previously left his post in March as the MPA’s Chief Commercial Officer quarterbacking the port’s Contrecœur container terminal project to join the executive team of ALTO seeking to develop a high-speed rail service on the Toronto-Quebec City corridor. The exodus continued on April 13, when Chief Financial Officer Alban Fournier departed to take up a new job as CFO of 5N Plus Inc., a company specialized in the production of specialty semiconductors and high-performance materials.
In a press release, the MPA stated that Mr. Bird’s appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer comes at a new strategic phase for the organization, marked in particular by the securing of a $1.16 billion loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to support the Contrecœur terminal project, whose economic strength has been recognized by Standard & Poor’s.
In accordance with sound governance practices, the Board of Directors’ succession plan was implemented when the CEO position became vacant.
“We are very pleased to welcome Mr. Bird back to the MPA,” said Ms. Nathalie Pilon, Chair of the Board of Directors of the MPA. “Building on significant achievements during his six years at the Port of Montreal, he is fully committed to contributing actively to the commissioning of the Contrecœur terminal and to the continued development of new markets, for the benefit of Canada’s and Québec’s economic growth.
“The Board of Directors has full confidence in his appointment and assures him of its support in ensuring continuity of the MPA’s mission.”
For his part, Mr. Bird declared: “The MPA is a key link in supporting the growth of our domestic businesses, and I will leverage my leadership and operational experience at the Port, drawing on trusted relationships with our teams and our commercial and financial partners, to ensure the sound management of operations as thousands of businesses rely on us to diversify or reshore trade flows.”
Amid lengthy delays, the cost of the Contrecœur project has ballooned to $2.3 billion. To be operated by DP World, with construction completion now targeted for 2030, it will handle up to 1.15 million containers annually – boosting existing capacity at the Port of Montreal by 60%.
A graduate in Applied Geology, Paul Bird has extensive experience managing large-scale projects. Having joined the MPA in 2020 as Senior Director of the Contrecœur expansion project and later serving as Chief Commercial Officer, he played a key role in securing environmental permits, finalizing design and engineering, developing partnership agreements, and initiating preparatory work for the terminal project. He previously spent nearly 10 years overseeing infrastructure for the mining, rail and port sectors at ArcelorMittal.
(MPA photo of Paul Bird)