BCE Inc. on Wednesday announced Gordon Nixon will step down as its board chair and will not seek re-election as a director at the company’s annual general shareholder meeting in May 2026.
Nixon joined the board in 2014 and served as chair since 2016.
The board plans to nominate BCE director Louis Vachon as chair, contingent upon his re-election as a director by BCE shareholders, a BCE press release said. Vachon joined the BCE board in 2022 and is a member of the management resources and compensation committee and the risk and pension fund committee.
Vachon is currently an operating partner at New York-based private investment firm J.C. Flowers & Co., and previously he was president and CEO of National Bank of Canada from 2007 to 2021.
“It’s been an honour to serve as Chair of the BCE Board for the past 10 years,” Nixon said in BCE’s press release. “With the successful announcement of BCE’s three-year growth strategy shared at Investor Day, I’m pleased to announce Louis’ nomination as Chair in May 2026. Louis is an outstanding business and community leader, and we are fortunate that he will lead the Board forward.”
“I would like to sincerely thank Gord for his leadership, guidance and counsel as we’ve reenergized Bell,” Mirko Bibic, president and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, said in a statement. “And I’m thrilled that Louis has agreed to serve as our next Chair. I’ve witnessed his invaluable service to the Board over the last three years, drawing on his significant experience as a corporate director and his many years as President and CEO of National Bank of Canada. Shareholders have benefitted from his leadership and corporate governance expertise over the past few years, and I look forward to working with him as Chair.”
Photo of Louis Vachon borrowed from J.C. Flowers & Co.’s website
