Canadians couldn't stop Googling Drake, Trump in 2016

It probably won't come as a surprise that Canadians loveDrake. Or that Googling Donald Trump became a habit for many of us this year.

Google released its annual list of trending search terms for 2016 on Wednesday, and the Canadian rapper topped three of the search engine's categories top trending celebrity, musician, and Canadian, according to Google's data.

Drake released his much-anticipated fourth album Viewsin April, and made headlines throughout the year for his rumoured romantic relationship with fellow singer Rihanna.

"His ability to keep himself relevant to Canadians is pretty incredible," said Alexandra Hunnings, a spokeswoman for Google Canada.

He wasn't the only Canadian musician on Google's list. Singer Cline Dion was the fourth most-searched musician in Canada, while the Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie and Leonard Cohen charted sixth and seventh, respectively.

Dion'shusband and brother both passed away in January.Downie announced at the end of May that he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, and subsequently played a string of farewell shows that summer with the Tragically Hip. Cohen passed away in November at the age of 82.

Overall, the results chart a busy year in politics, pop cultureandinternet memes, providinga glimpseat the "moments that captured our attention this year," Hunnings said.

Celebrity deaths and Trump aside, Canada specific search terms were well represented in Google's overall rankings. The company's top 10 overall trending Canadian searcheswere:

1. Donald Trump.
2. Pokemon Go.
3. Toronto Raptors.
4. Fort McMurray fire.
5. Prince.
6. Olympics.
7. David Bowie.
8. World Cup of Hockey.
9. Brexit.
10. Canada Post strike.

Trends, not searches

Google's trending list is not based on the overall number of searches a particularly topic received, but rather, "searches that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period compared with 2015," Hunnings said.

That's part of the reason why neither Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaunor musician Justin Bieber made the list.

In the world of sports, highlights included 16-year-old swimmer and Olympic medallist Penny Oleksiak, former Montreal Canadiens turned Nashville Predators defenceman P.K. Subban, and Olympic medallist sprinter Andre De Grasse, who were the top trending Canadian athletes.

In politics, searches also spiked for former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who died in March; Conservative Party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch,and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.

The year's top new stories were well-represented, too: Zika virus, the U.S. election, Brexit, and the Fort McMurrayfire all ranked highly.

And, of course, the fast-paced world of internet memes sent more than a few puzzled Canadians to Google, looking for answers to such questions as:"Who is Harambe?" (the gorilla shot at a Cincinnati zoo thatobsessedsome internet users);"What is the Running Man Challenge?" (a dance gag that relied on the music of Ghost Town DJ's 1996 hit My Boo);and "Who is Damn Daniel?" (a series of videos in which an enthusiastic narrator repeatedly complimentsa fellow high-school student's shoes).

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