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First, the timely cover story in the 72-year-old publication’s annual infrastructure issue features Canada’s Best Locations, based on Site Selection’s exclusive, proprietary project data tracking corporate end-user facility investment activity. The business publication’s Canadian Competitiveness Award once again recognizes Ontario as the most competitive province in a competitive nation, followed by Alberta and Saskatchewan. Metro areas from Moncton to Winnipeg and Québec City to Vancouver populate Site Selection’s annual Canada’s Best Locations list of top Canadian economic development groups (see full lists below), with 11 of the 20 regions in Ontario. This select group is determined by examining total corporate facility projects and their associated capital investment and job creation numbers over a period from June 2025 through May 2026. The projects qualified for Site Selection’s Conway Projects Database (at least $1 million invested, at least 20 new jobs created or at least 20,000 new sq. ft. of space) are evaluated on both a cumulative and per-capita basis. “As Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier this year in announcing the first-ever Canada Investment Summit coming in September, ‘Canada has what the world wants,’ ” said Adam Bruns, editor in chief and head of publications at Site Selection. “That includes one-quarter of North America’s top 12 tech talent hubs, a penchant for scientific discovery, a sense of partnership in global trade, an open door to immigrants, natural resources innovation, and an innate sense of fairness and decency. The companies large and small that continue to invest and create jobs across Canada know two things: The climate’s cold and the business climate is warm and welcoming.” Top Utilities in Economic Development A foundational element to U.S. infrastructure is utilities, which is why Site Selection’s Top U.S. Utilities in Economic Development (see list below) appears in this same issue. Based on analysis of corporate end-user project activity in 2025 in those utilities’ territories, the annual exercise incorporates facility investment project totals and calculates those projects’ jobs and capital investment numbers on a cumulative and per-capita basis. For the third year in a row, a companion feature sure to get corporate readers’ attention asked utility economic developers how they are responding to record demand for large power loads amid a glut of data center, semiconductor and other megaprojects. “The Top Utilities we named this year earned the honor due to their economic development teams’ outstanding efforts connecting to business and community leaders as well as to power sources,” says Bruns of a feature Site Selection has published since 1999. Global Groundwork Index The annual infrastructure issue also reveals top-ranking U.S. states and cities and top foreign countries in the publication’s exclusive Global Groundwork Index. The unique ranking looks back at five years of Conway Projects Database corporate facility project data (on a cumulative and per-capita basis), then blends in data from the federal government and the OECD to arrive at a unique snapshot of where private- and public-sector physical facility investment are converging for the public good and increased prosperity. Among U.S. states, Texas, Louisiana and North Carolina lead the way. Among U.S. metros, Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, Indiana, comes in at No. 1, followed by Reno, Nevada, and Savannah, Georgia. The United States is far and away the world leader when it comes to the combined infrastructure and corporate end-user facility investment and job creation data. Topping the list of foreign countries is Ireland, followed by Australia, Hungary, Mexico and Germany. Ireland last year launched a $216 billion infrastructure plan. Incoming Executive Vice President and Director North America Rory Mullen told Site Selection this week that the push is on to make sure housing, electricity and transport infrastructure keep pace with Ireland’s enormous growth. “I’m not surprised it’s coming up in your review,” he said. “The commitment and funding are there.” The new issue of Site Selection also includes features on transit-oriented development, quality of life and outdoor recreation; industry reports on logistics & distribution, contact centers and business process outsourcing (with exclusive insights from Site Selection Group), advanced materials, “eds & meds” and rare earth operations. International coverage includes Tractus analysis of India, the World Reports news digest and reports on Mexico and the Middle East. The issue features a special excerpt from a forthcoming book about the history of North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park along with an exclusive interview with the co-author. In addition to the Great Lakes Investment Guide and the Upstate South Carolina Intelligence Report, the September issue also includes regional and state spotlights on Texas, California, the I-94 Corridor, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Arkansas, Nevada, Idaho, Massachusetts, the Upper Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic. The September issue also includes Site Selection Investment Profiles about San Bernardino County, California; Consumers Energy; Celina, Texas; Wilmer, Texas; Pflugerville, Texas; Flower Mound, Texas; Middlesex County, New Jersey; and the State of Maryland. Two resource guides put Site Selection’s corporate readers in direct contact with economic development organizations across Canada and with utility economic development departments. Site Selection magazine, the leading publication covering global corporate real estate strategy and economic development, is in its 73rd year of publication, with a qualified circulation of 41,770* corporate end users in print, in addition to publishing all of its material at www.siteselection.com. Global corporate expansion experts Conway Data Inc. — publisher of Site Selection, state economic development guides under its Custom Content Publishing Division, and the Site Selection Investor Watch, Project Bulletin and Snapshot newsletters, has been a trusted source of business intelligence to corporations, government economic development and investment promotion agencies around the world since 1954. Conway Data also manages the Atlanta-based Industrial Asset Management Council, a professional association of corporate real estate executives, economic developers and commercial real estate service providers. *June 2026; all circulation information is publisher’s own data unless otherwise specified.
2026 Canadian Competitiveness Award (most competitive province)
2026 Canada’s Best Locations (Top 20 regions, presented alphabetically by leading provinces) ONTARIO ALBERTA MANITOBA NEW BRUNSWICK NOVA SCOTIA QUEBEC SASKATCHEWAN BRITISH COLUMBIA 2026 Top Utilities in Economic Development (alphabetical order) Alabama Power Company 2026 Global Groundwork Index Rankings Top 10 U.S. States
Top 10 U.S. Metros
Methodology for top states and metros: Cumulative and per-capita calculations based on Conway Projects
Top 10 Countries Outside the U.S. (combined infrastructure and corporate end-user project investment strength)
Methodology: Cumulative and per-capita calculations based on Conway |
