Phil Verster quits top job at Ontario’s Metrolinx, infrastructure boss to take over

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced that Phil Verster is leaving as the head of provincial transit agency Metrolinx.

The agency — and Verster specifically — have come under frequent fire for the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT project, which was supposed to open in 2020. There is still no projected opening date for the rail line that has been under construction since 2011.

Verster has blamed the contractor for delays, but critics have long been calling for Verster himself to be fired for failing to deliver the transit line.

Ford says in a statement today that Verster has accepted a new position and will be moving on as soon as December 16.

The premier has named Michael Lindsay, the president and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario, as the interim president and CEO of Metrolinx.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2024.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press