The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) Board of Directors selected Marie-Claude Léonard to be the agency’s CEO following a “thorough selection process.”
Léonard was elevated to interim CEO in March 2022 after Luc Tremblay announced he would be stepping down from the agency. Léonard’s 30-year transit career began at STM when she was a student. She earned a bachelor’s degree in medical biology and a graduate diploma in management from HEC Montréal.
During her time at STM, Léonard has spent 20 years in management and was appointed executive director, bus and metro operations in September 2021. She has been a member of the executive committee for the past six years and has served on several international committees.
“We chose the best candidate for the job through a months-long process that involved meeting several internal and external candidates,” said STM Board Chair Éric Alan Caldwell. “A standout for her acute understanding of customer needs and operational realities, Ms. Léonard also demonstrated an ability to take a fresh look at things and make the necessary decisions to achieve our objectives. Amid the pandemic and various financial issues, the STM now needs to reinvent itself. Our new CEO’s leadership, nerve and ability to rally our organization’s greatest strengths will allow us to transform our processes and continue providing Montrealers with access to an efficient, appealing, high-performance public transit network for years to come.”
Léonard signed an initial five-year agreement and offered her gratitude to the selection committee and STM Board.
“I am truly honored. It is with renewed pride and excitement that I take up my position as CEO of the STM,” said Léonard. “I aim to bring out the full potential of our employees, who will help bring our organization into the future and make it even more efficient, so that we can meet the expectations of our customers and of future generations as a leader in sustainable mobility and in the fight against climate change.”
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