National tragedy and national hockey teams drove some of Canada's most active moments on Twitter in 2014, as Canadians came together on the social media site to mourn separate shootings in Ottawa and Moncton, and to celebrate victories at the Winter Games.

The Oct. 22 shooting of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial in Ottawa was the most talked-about Canadian moment in 2014, according to numbers released by Twitter on Wednesday. Troubled Canadian-born pop star Justin Bieber was the most-followed Canadian export, and a tweet he wrote shortly after his January DUI arrest became the most popular tweet of the year in Canada.

Tragedy drove two of the country's top three peak conversation moments, while six of the top 10 moments were sports-related.

"Canadians love news and they love sports," Twitter Canada representative Christopher Doyle told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday.

Doyle described Twitter as the "soundtrack" to big, live moments as they happen. He said Canadians use the social media platform most to talk about sports and breaking news, but they also turn to it to express their grief, and to show their support for various causes and communities.

"I think it's because it's a very conversational platform and it can connect you instantly with others," he said. "You're living right in the moment with them."

The Canadian gold medal win in men's hockey generated the second-most traffic on Twitter in 2014, followed by the June 5 manhunt for a shooter who killed three RCMP officers in Moncton, N.B.

Three of Canada's busiest days on Twitter were a result of Olympic hockey games, while three others came during World Cup matches involving Germany or Brazil.

Germany's 7-1 victory over Brazil at the World Cup on July 8, was the most talked-about moment of the year worldwide, Doyle said. The game also cracked Canada's top 10 peak moments.

The Toronto municipal election also generated enough attention to capture a spot on the list at ninth, despite the absence of former mayor Rob Ford.

Peak days for Twitter conversation

  1. Oct. 22 – Ottawa shooting on Parliament Hill
  2. Feb. 23 – Canadian men's hockey team wins Olympic gold medal
  3. June 5 - Manhunt for Moncton RCMP shooter
  4. July 13 – Germany beats Argentina to win World Cup
  5. Feb. 20 – Canadian women's hockey team wins Olympic gold medal
  6. Feb. 21 – Canadian men's hockey team beats the U.S. 1-0
  7. June 12 – Brazil wins opening game of the World Cup
  8. July 8 – Germany beats Brazil 7-1 at the World Cup
  9. Oct. 27 – Toronto Municipal Election
  10. July 1 – Canada Day

Sports and entertainment dominated the fastest-rising hashtag trends of 2014, with season 16 of “Big Brother” leading the pack under the hashtag '#BB16.' The World Cup hashtag was the second-fastest riser, followed by '#Sochi2014' and a number of Canadian hockey team-related hashtags.

Canadians also turned to Twitter and the hashtag '#MH370' to follow the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on March 8. The missing plane ranked seventh among the fastest-rising hashtags.

The Vancouver hashtag was the hottest among Canadian cities, followed by Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Montreal.

Bieber led all Canadians with 57.5 million followers, which also makes him the second-most followed person in the world, behind Katy Perry.

Bieber's DUI-related tweet was retweeted 485,846 times as of Twitter's report, making it the top tweet by a Canadian.

A tweet for Bell's 'Let's Talk' campaign to promote awareness for mental health ranked fifth on the list of retweets, with 37,002 retweets when Twitter checked the numbers.

Ellen DeGeneres had Twitter's top tweet for 2014, with her celebrity selfie at the Oscars. The photo earned Twitter's 'Golden Tweet' award by receiving the most retweets of the year. It also set Twitter's all-time record with more than 3 million retweets.

The most-followed Canadians in 2014 came almost entirely from the entertainment world, with a few exceptions. Designer Bruno Ierullo, basketball star Steve Nash and writer Calvin Helin also cracked the top 20.

Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette, was the eighth-most followed Canadian with 3.3 million followers. His father, Jeremy Bieber, ranked 14th with 2.4 million followers.

Top 20 most-followed Canadians on Twitter

  1. Justin Bieber
  2. Drake
  3. Avril Lavigne
  4. Jim Carrey
  5. Carly Rae Jepsen
  6. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
  7. Nina Dobrev
  8. Pattie Mallette
  9. Nelly Furtado
  10. deadmau5
  11. Bruno Ierullo
  12. Nathan Fillion
  13. Shay Mitchell
  14. Jeremy Bieber
  15. Seth Rogen
  16. Shawn Mendes
  17. Steve Nash
  18. Michael Buble
  19. William Shatner
  20. Calvin Helin

Doyle said Prime Minister Stephen Harper also had a strong year on Twitter, due in part to his friendly bet with U.S. President Barack Obama on the Canada-U.S. Olympic hockey teams.

Both Canadian teams won gold, and Harper gently ribbed his U.S. counterpart about the win.