Maple Leaf Foods Inc. announced that Geert Verellen has decided to step down as CFO in the new year, and that David Smales has been named as his successor starting January 29, 2024. Smales comes to Maple Leaf Foods with a long track-record as a public company CFO, including almost 15 years as Executive Vice President and CFO at Aecon Group Inc. Prior to Aecon, Smales was CFO at Catalyst Paper Corporation, and has decades of international and transactional experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Novar PLC. Smales is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England.