As we gear up for a new year, YouTube is looking back at 2024 and what was trending on the video sharing website throughout the last 12 months in Canada.
2024 Trending Topics
In 2024, Canadian viewers and creators came to YouTube to take part in larger cultural moments in new ways, including the Olympics. Other trending topics included the U.S. Presidential Election and the movie Deadpool & Wolverine. Also in entertainment, trending topics included the animated series Hazbin Hotel and The Amazing Digital Circus, as well as competitive fashion game, Dress to Impress.
Additionally, YouTube says it saw a new wave of female pop artists take centre stage, from Canadian stars Tate McCrae and Charlotte Cardin to Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, all of whom found new ways to engage with their fans beyond the stage through content creation.
Top Trending Topics in Canada
- 2024 United States presidential election
- The Amazing Digital Circus
- Brawl Stars
- Deadpool & Wolverine
- Dress to impress
- Hazbin Hotel
- Helldivers 2
- Olympic Games Paris 2024
- Sabrina Carpenter
- Sean Combs Scandal
Canadian Creators to Watch
This year’s Canadian Creators to Watch include an indie animator, sketch comedians, and gamers who played one of the most talked-about games of the year, Dress To Impress. All these creators drove substantial subscriber growth across their channels in 2024.
Of note, Vancouver-based Jeenie Weenie (aka Sandra Kwon), a former flight attendant best known for her comedic flight attendant skits on ‘Jeenie Air,’ hit a huge milestone this year, joining the exclusive 10 million subscribers club (now at 11.4 million). Additionally, The Kalogeras Sisters had a breakout year on YouTube, garnering over 2.7 million subscribers since launching their channel in March 2024. The trio go on group adventures and experiences and post ‘fit checks’ and taste test challenges.
Vancouver’s Hafu Go is known for his curious content, scientific experiments, and unique experiences shared across his channels. He has more than 9.48 million subscribers. Layla Roblox has grown her channel to over 6.5 million subscribers, tapping into the engaged Roblox community with fashion-focused videos and tips and hacks videos about Roblox.
Another one to watch is 23-year-old Quebec-based creator, Willibed, who has exceeded a million subscribers thanks to his uniquely unusual style of content covering everything from scary stories and pranks to challenges and more.
Canadian Creators to Watch
- Jeenie.Weenie
- Hafu Go
- Layla Roblox
- Kalogeras Sisters
- Willibed
Top Songs
This year’s top songs highlight a variety of genres, from a wave of country including songs from Shaboozey and Post Malone, to a new generation of pop, led by female artists like Sabrina Carpenter. As in 2023, Punjabi music continues to make waves, as Canadian-Punjabi artist Sukha’s ‘8 ASLE’ hit the top 10.
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ was one of this year’s top trending songs, due to one of 2024’s biggest pop culture phenomena, Kendrick vs. Drake, spurring fans to engage with additional content in the form of animations, reaction videos, let’s plays, and more globally. Since March 26, there have been over 250,000 video uploads on YouTube related to Drake or Kendrick, tallying over 3.5 billion views globally, according to YouTube Internal Data, Global.
Top Songs
- 1. Benson Boone – “Beautiful Things”
- 2. Teddy Swims – “Lose Control”
- 3. Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
- 4. Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
- 5. Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso”
- 6. Post Malone – “I Had Some Help” (feat. Morgan Wallen)
- 7. Eminem – “Houdini”
- 8. Hozier – “Too Sweet”
- 9. Jack Harlow – “Lovin On Me”
- 10. SuKha – “8 ASLE” (feat. Gurlez Akhtar)
Shorts Songs
Many of this year’s top Shorts songs were associated with a dance trend, demonstrating these trends made popular by Gen Z and Millennials continue to propel songs and artists to mainstream success. This includes the resurgence of older gems, such as Bobby Caldwell’s ‘What You Won’t Do For Love’ and N Sync’s ‘Bye Bye Bye’ after it was used in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Top Shorts Songs
- 1. Bobby Caldwell – “What You Won’t Do for Love”
- 2. Frozy & Joyful – “Bounce (I Just Wanna Dance)”
- 3. Odetari – “KEEP UP”
- 4. Eternxlkz – “SLAY!”
- 5. Tommy Richman – “MILLION DOLLAR BABY”
- 6. Lay Bankz – “Tell Ur Girlfriend”
- 7. prodbycpkshawn – “Pop like this Pt. 2” (Slowed)
- 8. NSYNC – “Bye Bye Bye”
- 9. Pharrell Williams – “Double Life”
- 10. Benson Boone – “Beautiful Things”
The content on YouTube is reflective of societal trends. This year, fans of all ages showed their interest for everything from hot topics to scandals, music, fun content creation, and entertainment.