Turns out, democracy was the biggest turn-on this week. Canadians were busy making civic choices in Monday's federal election, and that commitment showed up in some unexpected internet trends.
On April 28 — election day in Canada — Pornhub traffic across the country took a nosedive as Canadians apparently chose polling stations over pleasure sessions.
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According to new data from the adult site, viewership across Canada dipped noticeably on election day, with the biggest plunge hitting in the evening, right as polls began to close and Canadians started tuning in to results.
Compared to the federal election in 2019, this was a much steeper drop. Back then, Pornhub only saw a 10% dip at the lowest point. Meanwhile, Americans actually logged more traffic during their most recent election night.
But once the polls closed, things took a very different turn. Starting at 11 p.m. — right around the time many outlets were officially projecting a Liberal win — traffic rebounded with a vengeance, rising by more than 10% compared to average by midnight. You could say Canadians rewarded themselves with a little... self-care after a long day of civic duty.
Canadian traffic on the site was down for most of the day — until the result was called, that is.Pornhub
Even though overall usage was down, some search terms exploded in popularity — and many of them were very, very Canadian. Searches for "Canada" spiked by over 300%, with "real homemade," "Canadian" and even "Quebecoise" also seeing massive surges.
It seems some voters were in the mood to keep it local — perhaps craving a little Canadiana to go with their democratic participation.
And in case you were wondering if politics had any influence, the term "conservative" saw a 36% jump. Coincidence or a cheeky nod to party preferences? Either way, the timing raised some eyebrows — and possibly some other things.
One of the weirdest jumps? Searches for "elbows" skyrocketed by 96% — likely tied to the viral "elbows up" movement that had Canadians flexing their political muscle, literally and figuratively.
Regionally, B.C. and Manitoba were the only provinces where Pornhub traffic stayed up through both the day and night — with B.C. peaking at +13% during daytime hours and holding at +6% in the evening.
Daytime traffic was down 8.5% across Canada — but not all the provinces were distracted by the election.Pornhub
Quebec, meanwhile, was feeling frisky early on with a 10% daytime bump — but by evening, that energy fizzled into a 6% drop. Seems like la belle province got their kicks in before dinner and then settled in to watch the results roll in.
In Ontario, on the other hand, traffic was down all day and into the night. With the province more divided than pre-election polls had predicted, it seems plenty of Ontarians were glued to the results instead of anything else on their screens.
Evening hours saw some spots flip as results started to roll in across the country.Pornhub
And over in P.E.I., traffic plunged the hardest, dropping by 28% in the evening — proving that Islanders were perhaps more into ballots than anything else that night.
So whether you're into democratic participation or... creative interpretations of Canadian identity, one thing is clear — election day definitely had an effect on the country's online habits.
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