Canada’s “nation-building” push sounds summary till you image what it really means in 2026: extra housing, extra transit, extra grid capability, extra water infrastructure, and extra climate-resilient rebuilding. None of that occurs with speeches alone. It occurs with permits, design drawings, environmental opinions, undertaking administration, and 1000’s of small choices that hold mega initiatives on monitor. That’s the reason a pair of TSX engineering giants can find yourself feeling like a quiet proxy for the nation’s to-do listing.
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WSP
WSP World (TSX:WSP) sits proper in the midst of that to-do listing. It runs a world engineering {and professional} providers platform that touches transportation, buildings, power, and environmental work. The easy bull case is that governments and huge firms can delay initiatives, however hardly ever cancel the long-wave wants. When Canada talks about constructing once more, WSP tends to point out up someplace within the chain.
The most important piece of latest information shouldn’t be a flashy product launch, however scale. Lately, WSP agreed to purchase U.S.-based TRC Firms for about $3.3 billion in money, with closing focused for the primary quarter of 2026. The rationale ties on to energy and power demand, together with information centres, and WSP mentioned the deal ought to elevate adjusted earnings per share (EPS) by a low- to mid-single-digit share even earlier than synergies.
The numbers again up the “busy and getting busier” vibe. In Q3 2025, the Canadian inventory posted revenues of $4.5 billion and web revenues of $3.5 billion, whereas adjusted earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose to $700.4 million and backlog hit about $16.4 billion. It additionally tightened its steadiness sheet, with its web debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio bettering to 1.4 instances at quarter-end.
STN
Stantec (TSX: STN) performs an analogous sport with a barely completely different really feel as a diversified design and consulting agency with deep roots in Canada and a big U.S. presence, and tends to win work in water, transportation, buildings, and power transition initiatives. If 2026 brings a wave of “repair it, develop it, harden it” spending, Stantec sits within the stream the place that cash will get was shovel-ready plans.
Its final 12 months of reports has leaned on regular demand and margin self-discipline, not drama. In Q3 2025, Stantec delivered web income of $1.7 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $323.4 million, and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 19%, which it known as an all-time excessive. It additionally posted diluted EPS of $1.32 and adjusted EPS of $1.53, and it grew contract backlog to $8.4 billion.
What stands out most for forward-looking buyers is how clearly administration frames the runway. In its investor supplies, Stantec put targets on the desk by means of the top of 2026, together with web income of $7.5 billion, adjusted EBITDA as a share of web income of 17% to 18%, and an adjusted diluted EPS three-year CAGR of 15% to 18%. That isn’t a promise, however it’s a helpful map of what “execution” ought to appear to be if the cycle stays supportive.
Backside line
So, might this pair be a purchase for buyers who need publicity to Canada’s nation-building push in 2026? It might, as a result of each Canadian shares have already got what that theme calls for: scale, diversified end-markets, and visual work pipelines. WSP’s TRC deal additionally leans into the facility build-out story in a really on-the-nose means. The “couldn’t” case is simply as sensible: execution danger at all times lives in undertaking companies, acquisitions must combine cleanly, and premium shares can disappoint if development merely turns regular. If you would like the theme with much less single-quarter anxiousness, that is the kind of pair that may make sense, so long as you settle for that the worth can wobble even when the nation-building retains rolling.