List of best-selling albums in Canada

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This is a list of the best-selling albums in Canada that have been certified by Music Canada, formerly known as Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA).

Album certifications[edit]

Music Canada provides "certifications" for album sales, similar to the RIAA's. The certification levels for albums released after May 1, 2008 are:

  • Gold: 40,000 units (previously 50,000)
  • Platinum: 80,000 units (previously 100,000)
  • Diamond: 800,000 units (previously 1,000,000) [1]

Note: Multi-Platinum certification refers to albums that have sold 160,000 units or more (i.e. 160,000 is double Platinum) but have not yet sold 800,000 units (Diamond certification).

Best-selling albums in Canada[edit]

Highest Certifications (Listed by Date of Certification)
Date of Certification Year Title Artist Certification Shipments/certified sales

[2]

May 11, 2022 1982 Thriller Michael Jackson 3× Diamond 3,000,000
November 12, 1996 1995 Jagged Little Pill Alanis Morissette 2× Diamond 2,000,000
July 30, 1987 1976 Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) Eagles 2× Diamond 2,000,000
June 27, 1995 1977 Rumours Fleetwood Mac 2× Diamond 2,000,000
June 28, 1995 1971 Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin 2× Diamond 2,000,000
August 31, 1995 1977 Bat Out of Hell Meat Loaf 2× Diamond 2,000,000
August 31, 1995 1979 The Wall Pink Floyd 2× Diamond 2,000,000
April 9, 1999 1995 The Woman in Me Shania Twain 2× Diamond 2,000,000
January 21, 2000 1997 Come On Over Shania Twain 2× Diamond 2,000,000
March 14, 2003 1973 The Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd 2× Diamond 2,000,000
December 21, 2004 2002 Up! Shania Twain 2× Diamond 2,000,000
September 20, 2018 2011 21 Adele 2× Diamond 1,600,000
Since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began (1995–Present)
Rank Year Title Artist Certification Unit sales
1 1997 Come On Over Shania Twain 2× Diamond 1,948,000[3]
2 1997 Let's Talk About Love Celine Dion Diamond 1,492,000[3]
3 2011 21 Adele 2× Diamond 1,489,000[3]
4 1997 Big Shiny Tunes 2 Various Artists Diamond 1,233,000[3]
5 2000 1 The Beatles Diamond 1,231,000[3]
6 2002 Up! Shania Twain 2× Diamond 1,134,000[3]
7 1997 Romanza Andrea Bocelli Diamond 1,133,000[3]
8 2015 25 Adele Diamond 1,093,000[4]
8 1997 Aquarium Aqua Diamond 1,093,000[3]
9 1997 Surfacing Sarah McLachlan Diamond 1,078,000[3]
10 1999 Millennium Backstreet Boys Diamond 1,075,000[3]
11 1997 Backstreet's Back Backstreet Boys Diamond 1,048,000[5]
Claimed sales
Year Title Artist Certification Sales
1982 Thriller Michael Jackson 3× Diamond 2,400,000[6]
1997 Let's Talk About Love Celine Dion Diamond 1,700,000[7]
1996 Falling into You Celine Dion Diamond 1,600,000[8]
1978 Breakfast in America Supertramp Diamond 1,500,000[9]
1993 The Colour of My Love Celine Dion Diamond 1,500,000[10]
1985 No Jacket Required Phil Collins Diamond 1,300,000[11]
1978 Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack) Various artists Diamond 1,300,000[12]
1994 The Lion King (1994 soundtrack) Various artists Diamond 1,200,000[13]
1978 Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture Various artists Diamond 1,115,000[14]

Best-selling albums by year[edit]

2010s[edit]

Year Performing artist(s) Nationality Album Sales Ref.
2010 Eminem United States Recovery 480,000 [15]
2011 Adele United Kingdom 21 850,000 [16]
2012 457,000 [17]
2013 Eminem United States The Marshall Mathers LP 2 242,000 [18]
2014 Taylor Swift United States 1989 314,000 [19]
2015 Adele United Kingdom 25 860,000 [20]
2016 Drake Canada Views 196,000

[21]

2017 Ed Sheeran United Kingdom ÷ 200,000 [22]
2018 Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper United States A Star Is Born 92,000 [23]
2019 Celine Dion Canada Courage 83,000 [24]
2020 Taylor Swift United States Folklore 62,000 [25]
2021 Adele United Kingdom 30 114,000 [26]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • Certification include on-demand audio and video streams and track sale equivalent

References[edit]

  1. ^ Music Canada. "Certification Definitions". Music Canada. Archived from the original on 2011-11-15. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  2. ^ "Music Canada Sales Certifications". Historica Canada. January 13, 2014. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "2014 Nielsen Music Canada Report" (PDF). Nielsen SoundScan. January 15, 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  4. ^ "Nielsen music: YEAR-END MUSIC REPORT. TOP 10 ALBUMS - ALBUM SALES" (PDF). Billboard. 2020. p. 41. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  5. ^ "The Nielsen Company 2008 Canadian Music Industry Report". Reuters. 7 January 2009. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Springsteen Big in Canada, Too". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 51. 20 December 1986. p. 39. ISSN 0006-2510.
  7. ^ Larry LeBlanc (26 December 1998). "Seagram, Dion Led Canadian Biz" (PDF). Billboard. p. 61. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Let's Talk About Sales" (PDF). Billboard. 10 January 1998. p. 37. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  9. ^ Farrell, David (12 April 1980). "Anne Murray Nabs 4 Junos In Top Canada Competition" (PDF). Billboard. p. 62. Retrieved 29 March 2023 – via World Radio History.
  10. ^ Chuck Taylor (9 November 1996). "550's Celine Dion Takes Stardom to Next Level" (PDF). Billboard. p. 15. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  11. ^ "New Collins albums ships quarter million on rleease" (PDF). RPM. 2 December 1989. p. 2. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  12. ^ Farrell, David (19 August 1978). "From The Music Capitals Of The World - Toronto". Billboard. 90 (33): 64. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Disney Enjoys Success of Universal Canada Deal". Billboard. 8 April 2000. p. 51. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  14. ^ Farrell, David (12 April 1980). "Anne Murray Nabs 4 Junos In Top Canada Competition" (PDF). Billboard. p. 62. Retrieved 29 March 2023 – via World Radio History.
  15. ^ Williams, John (August 18, 2010). "Eminem retakes No. 1 on charts". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
  16. ^ John Williams (December 21, 2011). "CANOE - JAM! Music - Artists - Buble, Michael : Buble breaks own sales mark". Jam.canoe.ca. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. ^ Bliss, Karen. "Adele, Gotye Top SoundScan Year-End Charts in Canada". Billboard.biz. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
  18. ^ "Canada's Digital Music Sales Rise in 2013 Unlike the U.S.; Eminem, Robin Thicke Among Top Selling Artists". Billboard.biz. January 10, 2014. Archived from the original on June 9, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
  19. ^ Bliss, Karen (January 27, 2015). "Nielsen: Canada Loved Taylor Swift, Streaming Music and, Yep, Vinyl in 2014". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  20. ^ "Nielsen & Billboard's 2015 Canadian Music Industry Sales Report". FYIMusicNews. January 8, 2016. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  21. ^ "Drake Tops Canada's Year-End Charts". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  22. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-05-19. Retrieved 2019-07-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. ^ "Nielsen Music Canada's Year-End Insights & Trends". FYIMusicNews. January 10, 2019. Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  24. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-04-02. Retrieved 2020-07-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-01-13. Retrieved 2021-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^ "Adele, Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake and the Weeknd Top MRC Data's 2021 Canadian Year-End Report". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-01-07.

External links[edit]