Carmen Fortino to lead Metro's Ontario division

Former Loblaw exec Carmen Fortino has been appointed senior vice-president and Metro Ontario division head, beginning Sept 2.

CEO Eric La Flèche made the announcement during a conference call last week.

"Carmen is a seasoned operator with a broad experience in all facets of food retail, and more recently in the health and welleness sector internationally," said La Flèche. "I look forward to working with Carmen and our Ontario executive team to build on the momentum we're seeing in the business today."

Fortino will take on the role vacated by Johanne Choinière. In April, she was appointed chief operating officer at Dollarama after having been with Metro since 1999.

READ: Dollarama announces appointment of COO from Metro

La Flèche said Fortino has a deep knowledge of the Ontario market, having grown up in a family of grocers and starting in the business in 1985.

He's held several senior positions at companies including Seroyal International, Atrium Innovations and Loblaw. At Loblaw, he left the company as executive vice-president of the Ontario region. Most recently, Fortino held the position of executive VP of business development at GNC Holdings Inc.