The biggest song of 1967 in Canada was “The Letter” by The Box Tops. This was the year support of Canadian music took a dive. While 1965 and 1966 saw 53 and 45 Top 40 Canadian hits respectively, 1967 saw only 28. Moreover, only two made the Top 10, one of which made the year-end Top 100 (the only Canadian entry). This drop in the success of Canadian music was incredibly ironic given that 1967 was Canada’s centennial anniversary as a nation. While one would assume that the year would have seen a greater embracing of Canadian music, it witnessed instead a turning away from it. Most surprising of all was that on July 1, Canada’s 100th anniversary, for the first time in chart history, not a single Canadian song was in the Top 40. Such sad phenomena in 1967 precipitated a movement in the music industry to establish CanCon/MAPL regulations which came into effect three years later.

While discussion commonly blames the British Invasion for the lack of support of Canadian music during this time, consider that the majority of 1967’s ten biggest hits were from American artists whether they performed soul music, psychedelic rock, or sunshine pop.

The top Canadian song of 1967 was “Canada” by The Young Canada Singers, the only #1 hit and only Canadian entry on the year-end Top 100 (41st of the year). It sold 270,000 copies. The song was written by Bobby Gimby (lyrics) and Ben McPeek (music) in honour of the centennial and Expo 67 and sung by a choir of children, versions recorded in both official languages.

Below is a list of all Canadian Top 40 hits for the year with their peak chart position. Bear in mind, that this is a picture of cross-Canada success. Songs may have charted much higher or lower in various cities as radio stations usually give local artists more support. Below the list, check out some cool trivia on the year’s hits and their artists.

WP = Weekly chart peak position.

1967 HITS

TITLE	ARTIST	WP
Canada	Young Canada Singers	1
Half Past Midnight	The Staccatos	8
Get On Up	The Esquires	17
Gaslight	The Ugly Ducklings	17
Fisherwoman	The Collectors	18
His Girl	The Guess Who	19
Sunny Goodge Street	Tom Northcott	20
Simple Deeds	The Paupers	21
Looking at a Baby	The Collectors	23
Bring It Down Front	The Jon-Lee Group	23
Lovin’ Sound	Ian and Sylvia	24
Go Go Round	Gordon Lightfoot	27
Catch the Love Parade	The Staccatos	28
Somebody Help Me	The British Modbeats	29
This Time Long Ago	The Guess Who	30
If I Call You By Some Name	The Paupers	31
Next to Nowhere	M. G. and the Escorts	31
Armful of Teddybears	Barry Allen	32
Jezebel	Witness Inc	34
Got to Get You Into My Life	The Stitch in Tyme	36
The Way I Feel	Gordon Lightfoot	36
New Dawn	The Stitch in Tyme	36
Flying On the Groud is Wrong	The Guess Who	36
Give Me a Reason to Stay	Bobby Curtola	37
It’s Not Funny Money	Bobby Curtola	39
Playground	Debbie Lori Kaye	40
Diamonds and Gold	Willie and the Walkers	40
Canada	Sugar Shoppe	40