Sustainable revenue momentum powers leading corporate citizenship

Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada

• Renewable power generators lead the 2026 ranking, with telecom, transit and forest-products also represented in the top five spots.
• Methodology update focuses on sustainable investments and revenues, along with an urgency-driven sustainable-revenue momentum score.
• Publicly traded Best 50 Corporate Citizens again outperformed their peers financially, earning 798% gross return since ranking launch in June 2002, vs. 759% for S&P/TSX Composite.

TORONTO, June 23, 2026 /CNW/ - Two renewable power generators lead the 2026 Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada ranking, with seven different industries represented across the top 10. Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. reclaimed the number one position it last held in 2023, while Polaris Renewable Energy Inc. jumped from 12th place in 2025 to second this year. The telecom sector rounds out this year's top three among the Best 50, with Telus Corp taking third spot.

Longueuil, QC-based Innergex enjoys extensive access to "patient capital" following its recent acquisition and privatization – a critical attribute when focusing on long-term infrastructure build-out. With operations in four countries and across multiple forms of renewable generation, Innergex currently produces 4,424 megawatts of clean energy with another 12,000 in the ready-to-bid stage.

Toronto-based Polaris has steadily expanded its presence across Latin America and the Caribbean, with a carbon-cutting portfolio that now includes hydroelectric projects in Peru and Ecuador, a geothermal plant in Nicaragua, solar fields in Panama and the Dominican Republic, and a wind farm in Puerto Rica.

Launched in 2002, this year's Best 50 ranking is the 25^th iteration. All Canadian corporations with at least $1 billion in annual revenues are assessed.¹ For 2026, the transparent and quantitative methodology was updated to focus on three equally weighted metrics: share of investments and share of revenues that are sustainable (as defined under the Corporate Knights Sustainable Economy Taxonomy), and the sustainable-revenue momentum score, which tracks growth in sustainable revenues from 2022 to 2024. There are 10 new entrants on this year's Best 50 list.

Among the 2026 Best 50 companies, 46.3 per cent of investments were classified as sustainable, in comparison to only 6.0 per cent among all other companies assessed. For sustainable revenues, comparative performance was 39.2 per cent for the Best 50 companies and 6.0 per cent for all other companies assessed.

On an economy-wide basis, growth in sustainable investments and revenues continues to far outpace growth in non-sustainable. Among all companies assessed, total sustainable investments increased 60% from 2019 to 2024 (2024: $39 billion), while sustainable revenues jumped 61% (2024: $146 billion). That contrasts with growth in non-sustainable investments of 51% and in non-sustainable revenues of 39% in the same period.

This year's Best 50 cohort demonstrates the even more impressive pace that is possible, with growth in sustainable investments of 79% from 2019 to 2024, and growth in sustainable revenues of 94%.

Troublingly, however, $39 billion in total sustainable investments was down from $43 billion in last year's ranking and $41billion the year prior to that. Even more notably, investment levels continue to fall far short of requirements, with Canada's recently appointed Taxonomy and Transition Planning Council having cited the climate investment gap alone at $115 billion annually.

Concurrently with the Best 50 ranking, Corporate Knights is also releasing its 2026 Top 10 International Corporate Citizens in Canada list. It includes the highest-scoring companies in the recent Global 100 Ranking of the world's most sustainable companies with at least $1 billion in revenues in Canada. The top three international performers were:  Schneider Electric SE (France), Tesla Inc. (USA) and Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark).

Quotes – Attributable to Corporate Knights CEO Toby Heaps

"For 25 years, Canada's Best 50 Corporate Citizens have set an impressive benchmark, demonstrating how to do business in a way that's consistent with a healthy planet and society. With a recent compound annual growth rate in sustainable revenue of about 22 per cent, they're also laying the groundwork for the accelerated momentum we urgently need."

"Corporate investment is a major preoccupation in Canada today, but quality matters at least as much as quantity. Our Best 50 analysis shows that economy-wide, investment in sustainable activities is growing materially faster than its non-sustainable counterparts -- and that's one of the most important and encouraging economic signals we've seen."

A digital version of the ranking and further contextual and methodological information is available at https://corporateknights.com/rankings/best-50-rankings/2026-best-50/

Financial Returns: Best 50 vs. S&P/TSX Composite Index

On a total return basis, the stock market performance of the publicly traded Best 50 Corporate Citizens has outpaced that of its peers, earning 798% gross return since the launch of this ranking in June 2002, versus 759% for S&P/TSX Composite.²

For interview requests and further information:  [email protected] 416.219.1901

About Corporate Knights

Corporate Knights Inc. is an independent media and research company. Its media division publishes the award winning sustainable-economy magazine Corporate Knights, circulated in The Globe and Mail, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Its research division produces sustainability rankings, research reports and financial product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance. Learn more at www.corporateknights.com .

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	^1 With some additional inclusions (e.g. largest credit unions by assets under management). 356 companies were eligible for the 2026 Best 50 ranking.
	^2 Timeframe for comparison is June 1, 2002 to April 30, 2026, with market cap weightings rebalanced annually on June 1.

SOURCE Corporate Knights

Toby Heaps, CEO, Corporate Knights, [email protected], 416.274.1432