For the past five years, outgoing Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster has earned a $12,000 vehicle allowance despite not having owned a car, Global News has learned, raising questions about why the perk was offered to the head of a transit agency.
According to the Ontario Sunshine List, Verster has consistently received a taxable benefit of between $12,575 and $13,392 on top of his taxpayer-funded salary of $838,097 as of 2023.
According to an Order in Council, signed by Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet in 2020, Verster’s compensation package includes a “vehicle allowance” with additional reimbursement for necessary expenses as part of his CEO perks.
Multiple sources told Global News, however, Verster doesn’t currently own or lease a vehicle and instead prefers to walk, run, or take transit to work. Verster, sources added, lives close to Union Station where Metrolinx is headquartered, and as an employee, receives free GO Transit access.
Verster’s vehicle allowance was first embedded into his compensation package in 2017, when the former Liberal government first appointed him to take on the burgeoning transit planning agency.
“Entitlement to a Vehicle Allowance in the gross amount of $1,000 per month,” read the original appointment order in August 2017.
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Since then, the Ford government has extended Verster’s contract and nearly doubled his salary while keeping the vehicle allowance in place. By 2023, the allowance grew to $13,392, roughly $1,100 per month.
Sources suggested that some in government had tried to end the car allowance, but ultimately failed. They also said Verster had indicated he would be willing to forgo it.
Global News has reached out to both Metrolinx and the Ford government, but has yet to receive a response. On Monday afternoon, the government announced Verster would be stepping away from the agency effective Dec. 16.
Michael Lindsay, president and chief executive officer of Infrastructure Ontario, will step into the role.
Verster’s tenure at Metrolinx has been productive at times and controversial at others as the transit agency struggles to deliver on a number of transit projects, including the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRT.
Verster has been singled out by political detractors who believe the CEO should be held accountable for the ongoing delays in delivery of key transportation projects.
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Ford, however, has praised Verster for taking on the government’s plans for transportation infrastructure growth, including the signature Ontario Line. The 15-kilometre project will cost $27.2 billion to build, maintain, and operate for 30 years.
“I’m a fan of Phil,” Ford said during a recent Ontario Line announcement. “This is no easy task that we put on his back.”
NDP MPP Joel Harden, an ardent critic of Metrolinx, called for Verster to be let go.
“Phil Verster was chased out of Scotland for being lavished with perks while failing on transit projects. He is repeating the same pattern now in Ontario and Premier Ford has to act,” Harden told Global News.
“Verster must be fired, and his army of executives have to be held to account for failing transit riders and workers.”
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