The Biggest Differences Between Billboard's Canadian and American Year-End Hot 100 Charts

There’s a lot of overlap between Canadian and American pop culture — to the point that Canadians have often worried about American culture dominating Canada — but Billboard’s Canadian year-end charts have some notable idiosyncrasies.

The biggest difference between the Canadian and American Hot 100 charts is, not surprisingly, that the former features more Canadian artists.

But the discrepancies don’t stop there — here are five notable takeaways from the Canadian year-end charts:

In Canada, Miley Cyrus Reigned Supreme Over Morgan Wallen

In a year dominated by Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen and SZA, it’s Miley Cyrus’ self-love single “Flowers” that took the top spot on the year-end Canadian Hot 100. On Billboard's American Hot 100, though, Wallen’s “Last Night” was named song of the year, with “Flowers” settling for second. (On Spotify Wrapped's year-end lists, though, Wallen had the most streamed song and album in Canada.)

Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation also finished at No. 23 on the Canadian Albums year-end list, as opposed to No. 45 on the Billboard 200. The concept of an endless summer apparently has traction in a country known for long winters.

Latin Stars Peso Pluma and Karol G Haven’t Cracked The Canadian Charts Yet

While Mexican singer Peso Pluma and Colombian reggaeton artist Karol G both had huge years in 2023, they didn’t break through on the Canadian charts. Pluma had four songs on the American year-end Hot 100 chart and claimed the No. 12 spot on the Top Artists list. But he doesn’t crack the top 100 on the Hot 100 Canadian Artists list or the top 200 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Karol G, meanwhile, came in at No. 23 on Billboard’s Top Artists, and placed at No. 217 on its Canadian counterpart. These positions indicate a broader trend for Latin music, which generally has a smaller presence on the Canadian year-end lists than the American charts. Superstar Bad Bunny appears on the Canadian artists and albums lists, but also at much lower positions than on the U.S. charts.

Canadians Are Loving Lewis Capaldi

There’s no proof Canadians are listening to these artists because they’re from across the pond, but several U.K. artists fared better in Canada than the U.S. Most notably, Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi was the No. 21 most popular artist on the Canadian Hot 100, but doesn’t appear on the Billboard Top Artists chart. Ed Sheeran, too, had a stronger performance in Canada, with his albums = and ÷ (Divide) charting at No. 18 and No. 39, respectively (they finished at No. 72 and No. 106 on the Billboard 200). Meanwhile, “Escapism” by English singer Raye featuring 070 Shake came in at No. 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart and No. 48 on the American chart.

The Weeknd Was More Popular In America Than Canada

Somewhat surprisingly, given that Abel Tesfaye hails from Scarborough, The Weeknd actually fared better on the American charts than their Canadian counterparts this year: he came in at No. 7 on the Billboard Top Artists list, but only claimed the No. 15 spot on the Canadian Hot 100 Artists chart. “Die For You,” his collaboration with Ariana Grande that went to No. 1 this year (seven years after its release), landed at No. 11 on the Canadian Hot 100 list, versus No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Canadians loved his hits album The Highlights, sending it to No. 7 on the Canadian Albums chart, but 2016's Starboy, which came in at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, only charted at No. 84 in Canada.

Some American Country Stars Aren’t Shining Yet In Canada

Morgan Wallen was one of the year’s biggest stars in Canada — just like everywhere else — and Zach Bryan and Luke Combs also had big years on the Canadian charts. But some American country artists struggled to break onto the Canadian lists. Lainey Wilson has three songs on the year-end Billboard Hot 100, but doesn’t appear on the Canadian version. Megan Moroney’s “Tennessee Orange” was No. 67 on the Hot 100, but also failed to land on the Canadian Hot 100.

Jason Aldean’s controversial single “Try That In A Small Town” also missed the Canadian year-end Hot 100, though it came in at No. 66 on the American Hot 100 list. Kane Brown has two entries on that list, neither of which appear on the Canadian version — but “Next To You,” his danceable collaboration with Canadian production duos Loud Luxury and DVBBS, landed at No. 66 in Canada, suggesting that breaking into Canada sometimes requires a different approach.

Extra observations:

• Nigerian artist Rema had a big year in Canada, coming in at No. 16 on the Canadian Hot 100 Artists chart (versus No. 41 on the American Top Artists list) and claiming the No. 2 song on the Canadian Hot 100 with "Calm Down."
• Eminem’s Curtain Call: The Hits and Curtain Call 2 both performed better in Canada than in the States, coming in at No. 17 and No. 19 on the Canadian Albums list, as opposed to No. 36 and No. 113 on the Billboard 200. The Eminem Show also made the Canadian Albums list, at No. 47.
• American hip-hop artists Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and Tyler, The Creator are all in the top 30 on Billboard’s Top Artists list, but only Lil Durk cracked the Canadian top 50, at No. 47.

Check out all of Billboard's year-end charts here.