Paul Bird returns to Port of Montreal to take over as new President and CEO

After barely two months ago suddenly leaving Canada’s second biggest container port as chief commercial officer to take up another post, Paul Bird is returning on June 8 as new president and CEO to notably pursue the advance of the port’s biggest expansion in decades. Such news broke last Friday in the latest development seeking to restore continuity and stability following a period of corporate upheaval this spring punctuated by the abrupt departure from the helm of Julie Gascon.

In a press release, the Montreal Port Authority (MPA) stated that Bird's appointment as president and CEO comes at a new strategic phase for the organization, marked in particular by the recent securing of a $1.16 billion loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to support the Contrecœur container 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 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 markets referred to include Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia under a trade diversification strategy pursued by Canada’s Carney government to reduce heavy reliance on the US market as part of a comprehensive response to the tariff war of the Trump Administration.

For his part, 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.”

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.

It was on April 3 that the Montreal Port Authority, without clarifying details, announced that Julie Gascon had “ceased her position” as chief executive occupied since February 2024. There was no customary accompanying board comment thanking a departing executive for services rendered, which fed speculation on a possible dismissal.

Bird had previously left in March to join the executive team of ALTO seeking to develop a high-speed rail service on the Toronto-Quebec City corridor. The C-team 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.

Now the Port of Montreal must find a new CFO. In addition, many changes are looming at the MPA board level. Four of the six directors, including chair Nathalie Pilon, will this summer reach the end of their maximum nine-year terms to make way for new members.

However, Bird’s biggest challenge clearly remains to shepherd to completion the long delayed Contrecoeur project 25 miles northeast of Montreal on the St. Lawrence River. To be operated by DP World Canada, with start-up targeted for 2030, it will handle up to 1.15 million containers annually – boosting existing capacity at the Port of Montreal by 60%.

In the past few years, its cost has ballooned to C$2.3 billion. But existing support from the federal and Quebec provincial governments still leaves at least $600 million remaining to be found to cover a total financial package – and negotiations with DP World have not yet been entirely finalized.