TIME and Statista Unveil Lists of America's and Canada's Best Companies for 2026
Rankings for both nations are based on employee satisfaction, financial performance, and sustainability transparency.
TIME and Statista have released their rankings for America's Best Companies 2026 and Canada's Best Companies 2026, identifying top-performing companies in each country. The methodologies for both lists are consistent, evaluating companies across three primary dimensions: Employee Satisfaction, Financial Performance (or Revenue Growth for Canada), and Sustainability Transparency (ESG).
Methodology
The evaluation for America's Best Companies 2026 is based on survey data from approximately 217,000 employees from U.S. companies collected over the past three years. This data encompasses employee recommendations and evaluations of employers across various aspects, including image, atmosphere, working conditions, salary, workplace, and equality. Companies must have generated at least $100 million in revenue in 2025 to be considered.
Financial performance was assessed using Statista's revenue database, which tracks company financial data over the last five years. Metrics included short-term (2023-2025) and long-term (2021-2025) revenue growth, both relative and absolute, as well as changes in net income, asset growth, and the evolution of the company's return on assets (ROA) for the 2023-2025 period.
The Sustainability Transparency dimension, or ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) data, was evaluated using standardized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from Statista's ESG Database and targeted research. Environmental criteria included 2024 carbon emissions intensity and reduction rates compared to 2022, along with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) score. Social aspects examined the proportion of women on the board of directors and the presence of a human rights policy. Governance factors assessed whether a company possessed a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report aligned with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines and a compliance or anti-corruption policy.
Scores from these three dimensions were consolidated and weighted equally in a scoring model, with a maximum possible score of 100 points. The top 1,000 companies with the highest scores were recognized as America's Best Companies 2026.
Canada's Best Companies
For Canada's Best Companies 2026, the evaluation process is similar. Employee satisfaction data was gathered from approximately 37,000 Canadian employees over the last three years, assessing similar criteria as the U.S. list. Companies needed to achieve at least US $100 million in revenue in 2024 or 2025 and demonstrate positive revenue growth over the past three years.
Revenue growth was analyzed using Statista's database, considering both relative and absolute growth. The Sustainability Transparency dimension for Canadian companies also utilized ESG data, including carbon emissions intensity and reduction rates, CDP scores, board diversity, human rights policies, CSR reporting adherence to GRI guidelines, and compliance policies.
Similar to the U.S. ranking, the scores for Employee Satisfaction, Revenue Growth, and Sustainability Transparency were equally weighted to determine a final score out of 100. The 125 companies achieving the highest scores were awarded the title of Canada's Best Companies 2026.