TORONTO -- Canopy Growth Corp. heads the Toronto Stock Exchange's inaugural list of top 30 performing stocks over the past three years.

The list based on dividend-adjusted share price appreciation features newer and established listed firms from 583 eligible Canadian companies.

Canopy's shares have appreciated by 1,823 per cent as of June 30, more than double the second-place finisher Shopify Inc. at 883 per cent.

The TMX Group said the TSX30 will be an annual recognition program similar to the Venture50 that has been running from almost 15 years.

"We created the program to recognize the 30 top performing companies that may otherwise fly under the radar to the average retail investor." spokeswoman Catherine Kee wrote in an email.

The new program features "some of the most compelling success stories among our listed issuers, including companies operating in traditional areas of strength like natural resources and also in newly defined sectors like clean tech and cannabis," added Loui Anastasopoulos, president Capital Formation at TMX Group.

Eight of the firms on the list are graduates of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The mining sector has the most names on the list, which also includes well-known firms such as Air Canada, CAE Inc., BRP Inc. and CargoJet Inc.

Air Canada said its inclusion on the list underscores its transformation, resulting in a stock price appreciation of about 346 per cent over the past three years and more than 5,400 per cent since April 2009.

Inclusion on the list follows recent upgrades by Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's. Air Canada said the changes reflects the airline's stronger financial profile.

"Having our greater financial resiliency acknowledged by these agencies advances us to one level below our goal of investment grade status," stated Michael Rousseau, deputy chief executive and chief financial officer.

Thirteen of the companies on the list are headquartered in Ontario, followed by five in Quebec, four in B.C., three in Alberta and two in Manitoba.

Village Farms International, which ranked No. 3 with an 868 per cent increase, said its greenhouse growing operations, have allowed investors to participate in its growth since its shares were first publicly listed in 2006.

The company sees further growth as it pursues the potential of the cannabis and CBD markets resulting from its joint venture with Pure Sunfarms.

"Moreover, financial performance in the coming quarters should reflect Pure Sunfarms recent ramp to full capacity at its first greenhouse, the planned doubling of capacity next year with the conversion of a second greenhouse, and the potential to more than double that capacity again through the option to add a third greenhouse," stated CEO and founder Michael DeGiglio.

North American Palladium Ltd. CEO Jim Gallagher said its inclusion in the program "will further open up investment interest in North American Palladium by investors looking to track top-performing, dividend-paying companies."

Ski-Doo maker BRP Inc. said it earned the 29th spot on the list because its stock has more than doubled since going public in 2013 by delivering "impressive results."

"For the past four years, we were successful in outpacing the industry and generated record revenues. We have made solid progress by continuously improving our momentum on the market," CFO Sebastien Martel said.