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

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

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

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

2010s

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

Notes

References

  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.
  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

Lists of best-selling albums
Canada
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