Article content

In a surprise announcement Monday morning, Telus Corp. said Darren Entwistle is leaving his role as president and chief executive and will be replaced by Joe Natale, another long-serving executive of the company.

Mr. Entwistle will remain with the company, taking over the role of executive chairman of the board as the current non-executive chair of the board Brian Canfield retires.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Telus Corp CEO Darren Entwistle steps aside, Joe Natale takes helm Back to video

One of the longest-serving CEOs of a Canadian blue chip company, Mr. Entwistle has led the Vancouver-based telecommunications company since 2000.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Mr. Natale joined Telus in 2003 and has been its chief commercial officer since 2010, presiding over a team of 25,000 employees. He is based in Toronto and will remain there when he takes over the top job.

In a statement Monday morning, the company emphasized that the personnel changes, which will be effective as of its annual meeting on May 8, come as a result of its “robust succession-planning process.”