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Canadians Googled a lot of things in 2023. Here are some of the top queries

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As Canadians watch – and seek to learn more about – the war unfolding between Israel and Hamas, it’s one of a wide variety of events curious Canadians searched on Google this year.

Google released its list of the top searches in Canada for 2023 and found “once again Canadians were interested in global stories,” from the Women's World Cup to the Turkiye-Syria earthquake. Canadians also searched for famous stars, popular games and the best movies to watch.

The list also showed Canadians questioned "why," “how” and "what" on a range of topics in an effort to learn more, including "why is Israel-Hamas at war?" and "how deep is the Titanic?"

Canadians searched for blockbuster movies "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie" and were interested in people who died, including actor Matthew Perry and singer-songwriter Sinead O'Connor. They also wanted to know more about games like Hogwarts Legacy, Connections and Baldur’s Gate 3.

Here are the top events and topics that Canadians searched for and the questions they asked in 2023:

TRENDING SEARCHES IN NEWS

At the top of the list, Canadians were searching for the Women's World Cup, which kicked off in July 2023.

The nation closely watched Canada's women's team as they tried to climb out of the group stage. Unfortunately, the Canadians were defeated by Australia 4-0 in a do-or-die game.

A number of Canadians were also watching the ICC Cricket World Cup. The tournament, which wrapped up in November, had a "heartbreaking" end for favourite India as Australia took home the win for the 6th time.

Actor Jeremy Renner made headlines this year after he spoke out about an accident that left more than 30 bones broken.

On New Year's Day, Renner said, a snowplow ran over him while he was helping dig out a relative's car.

Another sports query that was top of mind for Canadians was when Lionel Messi's Inter Miami team was set to play two exhibition games in China.

The games, which were billed as must-see events in the country, were cancelled after China's top economic official died in November.

Other top searches for news and events in Canada included the Titan submersible story, Hurricane Lee in the Maritimes, India's Chandrayaan-3 landing on the moon, app Temu's privacy concerns and the Turkiye-Syria earthquakes.

WHY, WHAT AND HOW

On top of searching for keywords, Canadians also dug a bit deeper to learn more.

Following the Titan submersible saga, where a group of explorers set off to see the wreck of the Titanic, Canadians asked, "How deep is the Titanic?"

Canadians are also trying to understand more about the Israel-Gaza war, with questions like "why is Israel-Hamas at war" and "what is Hamas" topping the searches in 2023.

"What is happening in Israel-Gaza" was another top search for Canadians.

Kleenex also topped headlines this year after the tissue brand pulled products from shelves across the country. Many people were searching for "why" the company was leaving Canada.

Following King Charles' coronation in May, Canadians were curious as to "how old" he is.

Ages continued to be top of mind in searches including for Toronto's former mayor with "how old is John Tory" alongside "how old is Pamela Anderson."

"Why Gwyneth Paltrow is in court", "why did Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau divorce" and "why the air quality is bad", were other top questions.

SEARCHES FOR PEOPLE WHO DIED IN 2023

Canadians continued to remember singers, actors and other famous people who died in 2023.

These are the 10 people who died that were most searched by Canadians:

  1.  Matthew Perry
  2. Sinéad O'Connor
  3. Tina Turner
  4. Ken Block
  5. Suzanne Somers
  6. Gordon Lightfoot
  7. Jerry Springer
  8. Lisa Marie Presley
  9. Bob Barker
  10. Jimmy Buffett 

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