New Metrolinx CEO contract includes potential 6-figure bonus

New Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay could earn just over $820,000 in the next year between performance bonuses and his salary.

Details of Lindsay’s contract, posted through an Order in Council, show he will receive a base salary of roughly $687,000 per year with a performance-based bonus of up to 20 per cent.

It is not clear exactly what Lindsay would need to do in a year to unlock his entire bonus. If he were to achieve it, he would take home a grand total of $823,879.20.

That would be a little less than the $883,990.63 former CEO Phil Verster earned in 2024, his final year at the helm of the provincial transit agency.

Verster was also given a vehicle allowance of roughly $12,000 despite not owning a car. That perk has not been extended to Lindsay.

Lindsay joined Metrolinx from Infrastructure Ontario, another provincial agency. There, he fronted several controversial government announcements like the closure of the Ontario Science Centre, as well as overseeing a massive portfolio of public land and construction projects.

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He has run Metrolinx as an interim leader since Verster left and officially took on the role full-time on July 1.

“I am humbled and honoured to have been appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of Metrolinx,” Lindsay said in a statement distributed by Metrolinx.

“As a proud resident of Toronto, and a lifelong transit commuter, I understand the importance of connecting the region and building the transit network communities need and deserve.”

The Ministry of Transportation said Lindsay’s salary was decided by the chair of Metrolinx’s board, and bonuses would only be given for hitting certain targets. They said the bonuses written into Lindsay’s contract followed the same structure as Verster’s.

Verster’s tenure at the top of Metrolinx was plagued by delays to major transit projects like the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, which still does not have an official opening date.

Ontario NDP shadow public transit minister Doly Begum said she was concerned Lindsay would face similar struggles.

“The former CEO collected an annual salary of almost a million dollars of taxpayers’ money and what did we get for it? Confusion and more delays,” she said in a written statement.

“We need full transparency and clear timelines. That’s the only way we can make sure that another CEO doesn’t get away with a huge cheque while front line workers get laid off.”

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