New agency shuffles post

INFRASTRUCTURE

OTTAWA • A board director for the new federal infrastructure financing agency is temporarily stepping down from his post to take on a top executive job in the organization.

Bruno Guilmette was appointed last month to the board of directors of the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

The agency says Guilmette will become interim chief investment officer to oversee officials reviewing project proposals and crafting deals — essentially letting the agency start doing what the federal government envisioned it would.

Board chair Janice Fukakusa says the agency realized it needed to move quickly to build its ability to review and decide on investments.

Fukakusa, a former Royal Bank executive, will remain interim CEO of the agency until the government names someone to the job.

The Liberals promised the Toronto-based financing agency would up and running by the end of 2017.

The office in the city’s downtown core is open and for the moment is the only physical location the bank envisions, but its corporate plan leaves open the possibility of expanding to new locations in the future.

The corporate plan tabled in Parliament early last month shows that the agency expects to spend more than $16.1 million between July 2017, and the end March 2018, to hire executives, employees, legal and information technology services and management consultants as part of start-up costs.