Payments Canada names Garry Foster new board chair
New directors Saigin Govender, Fariba Rawhani, AnneMarie Ryan, Stéphane Achard elected to board.
OTTAWA, June 24, 2021 - Payments Canada, the country's financial market infrastructure for payments, elected Garry Foster as the new chair of the board of directors at its Annual Member Meeting, and appointed four new directors.
“Garry Foster has extensive experience facilitating the growth and transformation of complex businesses, which is a perfect fit for where Payments Canada is today and for our future,” said Tracey Black, President & CEO of Payments Canada. “We are very pleased that he is stepping into the role of board chair.”
Mr. Foster is a seasoned corporate director who has served on the Payments Canada board since 2017, and chaired the board’s audit and finance committee. He currently sits on several other prominent Canadian boards including the SmartCentres REIT and Real Matters Inc. and Ontario Health, and previously sat on the Presto Fare Card sub-committee of Metrolinx. These appointments follow an accomplished career at Deloitte, where Garry led the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Practice and was Vice Chair of the firm.
“I am honoured to serve as chair of the board during this pivotal time in Canadian payments,” said Mr. Foster. “My fellow board members and I are committed to working with Payments Canada’s leadership team to realize their plans to advance payments in Canada, and help shape Payments Canada’s success in the coming years.”
Payments Canada is also pleased to announce the appointment of four new directors to the Payments Canada board: Saigin Govender, Fariba Rawhani, AnneMarie Ryan and Stéphane Achard.
The announcement of Garry Foster marks the end of Eileen Mercier’s six-year term as board chair, a period of major transformation that included a new governance structure, the modernization of Canada’s payment infrastructure, expansive organizational growth, and focused industry collaboration. In addition to Eileen Mercier, Payments Canada also extends its thanks and a fond farewell to Malcolm Knight, Lib Gibson and Mike Henry, whose board terms come to an end with these latest appointments.
About Payments Canada
Payments Canada is a public purpose organization that owns and operates Canada’s payment systems, the Large Value Transfer System (LVTS) and the Automated Clearing and Settlement System (ACSS). Payments Canada is responsible for the physical infrastructure and the associated bylaws, rules, and standards that support these systems. It also has a duty to promote the efficiency, safety, and soundness of Canada’s payment systems while taking into account the interests of end users. In 2020, Payments Canada’s systems cleared and settled over $107 trillion—more than $420 billion every business day. Transactions that pass through these systems include debit card payments, pre-authorized debits, direct deposits, bill payments, wire payments and cheques initiated and received by Canadians and Canadian businesses. Payments Canada is working closely with the payment ecosystem to modernize Canada’s payment systems to ensure Canada and Canadian businesses remain globally competitive. Payments Canada will launch a new high-value payment system, Lynx, in 2021 and a real-time payment system, the Real-Time Rail (RTR), in 2022.
