01 -44 RENEW MAY-JUNE25 PT - Flipbook - Page 8
LEADERSHIP
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
Metrolinx’s new CEO Michael Lindsay discusses the
way forward for transit projects
Michael Lindsay, Interim President and CEO of Metrolinx
Prior to joining Metrolinx, Lindsay was president and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario (IO), where he worked closely with partners in both the
public and private sectors to build, manage, finance and enhance the
value of the Province’s assets. Lindsay rejoined Infrastructure Ontario
as president, Project Delivery, in 2019, bringing his extensive experience supporting a range of innovative public and private partnerships.
From 2014 to 2016, Michael was Senior Vice President of Commercial
Projects at Infrastructure Ontario. In that role, he was responsible for
commercial transactions related to the financing, development, and
divestiture of public assets in Ontario (e.g. land, buildings, services).
Prior to returning to Infrastructure Ontario, he served as Special
Advisor to the Government of Ontario on the upload of the Toronto
subway system. Lindsay also previously served as Head of Strategic
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RENEW CANADA – MAY/JUNE 2025
Partnerships & Government for the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, and as the Global Director of Infrastructure Planning &
Advisory at Hatch.
GETTY IAMGES
T
“I have a deep and abiding conviction that the only
way that Toronto will continue to merit its world-class
status, which it has, this place where I live and that I
love, is that if we continue to have conversations that are
open and that are honest and that are fearless about the
challenges that both the city and the region face.
“It is absolutely critical and I take it as a solemn
responsibility that my team, the agency of Metrolinx,
play a direct role in rising to meet that challenge, by
ensuring that we have a transit system that is a huge and
integrated part of the way in which people move about
the city and are connected to opportunity. So, what are we
doing about it?
“I think that the impression that I want to leave you
with, which it’s easy to forget sometimes, is these projects
have long gestation periods, and so therefore, it can
be di昀케cult to perceive the incremental progress that is
happening. Let me use the Ontario Line as an example:
388,000 daily boardings. 227,000 people within walking
distance of transit. That’s the goal. Not to mention
congestion relief at Union Station and at Yonge-Bloor,
IRA KOTLIAR, INDIGO EVENTS FOR THE TORONTO REGION BOARD OF TRADE, METROLINX
HE TORONTO REGION is in the middle of a historic scale
expansion and modernization of transit and transportation infrastructure, not seen since the 1960s.
Building on this scale won’t be easy. The challenge
is to deliver these transit megaprojects on time and
on budget.
Fixing how people and goods move across the Greater
Toronto Region isn’t about tweaking a few projects, it’s
about transforming the whole system.
During a speech at the recent Toronto Region Board of
Trade’s 10th Annual Transportation Symposium, Michael
Lindsay, interim president and CEO of Metrolinx spoke
about the transit agency’s belief in greater communication
about ongoing construction projects to help residents
tolerate the work being done. He also discussed
Metrolinx’s move away from public-private partnerships
(P3s) contracts in order to avoid future delays on projects,
similar to what occurred with the Eglinton Crosstown
LRT. He also told the audience that government agencies
will need to think quickly about future contracts in the
wake of the U.S.-imposed tari昀昀s.
