Before being hailed as one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women, Cathy McLay was a working mom in Prince George, pursuing her accounting designation by correspondence.

“The town didn’t have a university—or computers for that matter—so I received my books by mail,” she recounts. “The challenge was daunting at times, but my family encouraged me to persevere.”

Persevere she did, earning her designation in 1991 before joining Canadian Forest Products (Canfor) as a regional controller. She spent the next decade honing her skills in operational analysis while amalgamating back office services for all of Canfor’s local sawmills.

“I found it exciting to figure out how to make processes more efficient,” says Cathy. “It was a wonderful opportunity.”

In 2001, she signed on as corporate controller of Howe Sound Pulp & Paper, a joint venture between Canfor and Oji Paper. The mill was struggling financially at the time, so Cathy and mher team devised a life-saving strategy.

“We leveraged our operational excellence to enter the US paper markets,” she explains.

The strategy worked. Two years into her tenure at Howe Sound, Cathy expanded the scope of her leadership by joining the board of directors of the newly consolidated Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. It marked the beginning of a longstanding commitment to board service.

“I joined the board at an exciting time,” she says, “and it inspired me to keep contributing.”

Cathy was appointed to the board of Canfor Asia Corporation in 2006, shortly after rejoining Canfor—this time as general manager of its Vancouver office. With her responsibility for people management increasing, she decided
to seek certification as a business coach.

“I believe people can surprise themselves with what they can achieve,” she says. “Becoming a coach taught me how to empower others to help them reach their goals.”

Cathy left the forestry sector in 2008 and brought her complement of technical and soft skills to TransLink, becoming its director of finance. Within a year, she was promoted to CFO and executive vice-president of finance and corporate services. As such, she led Trans-Link through several capital market projects and helped it transform into Vancouver’s first private-public partnership.

For her role in successfully restructuring TransLink’s funding model, Cathy won the “Transformation Agent” BC CFO Award from Business in Vancouver in 2013.

“The true reward of guiding an organization through a major project like this is helping others rise to the challenges at hand,” she says.

“When someone says ‘I never thought that was possible,’ I feel excited for them!”

It was also in 2013 that Cathy became the executive sponsor of Compass, TransLink’s electronic fare system. Though already well underway, the project was fraught with difficulties, so Cathy enlisted the help of Trans-Link’s then-chief information officer, Lloyd Bauer, to revise strategy.

“I believe that with the right people in the room, you’ll always find a solution,” she says.

“In this case, we developed a more effective implementation plan.”

Within 180 days of the system’s launch in 2015, 94% of all transit fares in Metro Vancouver had been paid for with a Compass product. For TransLink, this was a definitive success.

By this point, Cathy had been appointed as the organization’s acting CEO, responsible for leading its entire operations. The appointment marked the culmination of a career dedicated to leading people and organizations through transformative change—one that garnered her a spot on Women’s Executive Network’s 2016 list of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.

“I’m still humbled by that,” she says. “It was such an honour.”

Having recently retired, Cathy says she’s eager to devote more time to board service, travel, and family.

“I’ve had a wonderful career,” she says. “Now I’m excited about this new chapter.”

Cathy McLay, CPA, CMA, ICD.D