Apple poaches Telus executive to manage Canadian sales operations

According to his recently updated LinkedIn profile, Johnston left Telus after an almost 11-year stint at the company to take on the position of Senior Managing Director at Apple Canada.

Canadian blog MobileSyrup, which reported on the recent hire earlier today, said Johnston will be managing Apple's sales department after performing similar duties at Telus. The executive has more than a decade of experience under his belt after serving as the phone provider's VP of Mobility Solutions and, most recently, SVP of Consumer Marketing.

Canada is a major contributor to Apple's North American revenue and is consistently one of the first countries to be included in popular device launches like iPhone. Unlike its neighbor to the south, however, Apple Canada is sometimes slow to adopt new services due to industry and government regulations. For example, Apple Pay went live in Canada last November, more than a year after the mobile payments solution debuted in the U.S.. Even after months of availability, Canadian Apple Pay users are still limited to certain American Express cards.