Building on its 2025 momentum, Kingston earns its third Top7 recognition and stands as the only Canadian community on this year’s list
Kingston, Ontario – June 18, 2026 – The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) has once again named Kingston as one of the world’s Top7 Intelligent Communities, recognizing the city’s continued leadership in building a connected, innovative, sustainable and inclusive community. Kingston is the only Canadian community recognized this year, joining Assaí, Paraná, Brazil; Brightlands-Limburg, Netherlands; Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Türkiye; Hilliard, Ohio, USA; Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain; and Yunlin County, Taiwan.
The Top7 Intelligent Community designation recognizes communities that have moved beyond building digital infrastructure to using it as a foundation for real economic and social impact – driving job creation, inclusive growth and a stronger quality of life. ICF evaluates communities on their performance across broadband deployment and use, workforce development, innovation, digital inclusion, advocacy and engagement.
“ICF is thrilled to see Kingston return as a 2026 ICF Top7 Intelligent Community,” said John Jung, Co-founder, Intelligent Community Forum. “from its rich history with a modern innovation economy supported by nearly universal broadband to being a leader in research, entrepreneurship, collaboration and civic leadership makes it a strong contender for Intelligent Community of the Year.”
Kingston’s 2026 Top7 recognition builds on a milestone year for the community. In 2025, Kingston was named one of the world’s Top7 Intelligent Communities and achieved full certification as an Intelligent Community, validating more than a decade of collaboration among municipal government, economic development partners, utilities, post-secondary institutions, entrepreneurs, community organizations, businesses and residents. Earlier this year, Kingston was also named one of the Smart21 Communities of 2026, ICF’s list of global community leaders, ahead of this latest Top7 distinction.
“Kingston doesn’t stand still – we continue to build on the progress we’ve made while looking ahead to new opportunities,” said Mayor Bryan Paterson. “This recognition from the Intelligent Community Forum reflects the dedication and collaboration of our businesses, institutions, and residents who are helping shape a connected, innovative, and future-ready Kingston.”
Kingston’s 2026 submission highlighted a broad range of initiatives aligned with ICF’s Community Accelerator Strategy, including municipally supported broadband infrastructure through Utilities Kingston, workforce attraction and inclusion programs, a growing health innovation and sustainable manufacturing ecosystem, community engagement tools such as Get Involved Kingston, digital adoption support for local businesses, climate action initiatives and emerging artificial intelligence applications. Recent initiatives featured in the submission include the Helix Life Sciences Initiative, which provides companies with wet lab space, commercialization funding and business supports; RXN HUB, a clean technology scale-up and manufacturing facility; the Better Homes Kingston retrofit program; and new digital health and artificial intelligence collaborations involving Kingston’s health-care and post-secondary sectors.
“This recognition confirms that Kingston’s Intelligent Community story is about more than one project or one organization – it is about an entire ecosystem working together with shared purpose,” said Donna Gillespie, CEO of Kingston Economic Development Corporation. “Kingston has built a powerful foundation for inclusive economic growth through connectivity, talent, research, entrepreneurship, sustainability and innovation. Our continued recognition by ICF shows that our community is not only competing globally, but offering a model for how cities can create prosperity while improving quality of life.”
Kingston’s innovation economy is supported by Queen’s University, St. Lawrence College, the Royal Military College of Canada, more than 30 research laboratories, and a growing network of companies and entrepreneurs in life sciences, sustainable manufacturing, clean technology, health innovation, digital media and creative industries.
Sustainability remains central to Kingston’s Intelligent Community journey. Kingston was the first municipality in Ontario to declare a climate emergency and continues to advance its Climate Leadership Plan, with initiatives focused on transportation, buildings and energy, waste, food and forestry. Programs such as Better Homes Kingston, the Kingston Community Climate Action Fund, Neighbourhood Climate Action Champions and the Kingston Climate Summit, along with partnerships with organizations such as Sustainable Kingston, are turning that ambition into local action.
The 2026 Top7 Intelligent Communities will be featured at the ICF Global Summit in the Columbus Region of Ohio, USA, from October 13 to 15, where the 2026 Intelligent Community of the Year® will be announced.
The recognition reinforces Kingston’s position as a global leader in community innovation, inclusive prosperity and sustainable economic development, reflecting the community’s ability to align connectivity, talent, innovation, engagement, digital inclusion and sustainability around a shared vision for the future.
To learn more about Kingston’s Intelligent Community journey, visit investkingston.ca/icf
Media Contacts:
Daniel Solorio
Marketing & Communications Manager
Kingston Economic Development Corporation
613-329-9270
solorio@investkingston.ca
