From the marijuana boom to trade disputes over NAFTA and China and the oil crisis in Alberta, 2018 offered a bit of everything as the news cycle never stopped.

While it was a forgettable year for stock market investors, it was a memorable one in many other ways. Landmark news events from the year will remain in focus for 2019 and beyond, including Canada's arrest of a Huawei Technologies Co. executive and Alberta's challenges in getting its crude to market.

We pulled together five of the most-read and most important Bloomberg News stories in Canada to sum up the year.

'Wake 'n Bake,' Plunging Stocks Greet Canada's Legal Pot Debut

When was the last time Canada was on the global radar for the start of a new industry? Canada became the first major economy to legalize recreational marijuana, sparking dozens of stories to help investors spot the winners and potential losers among the dozens of new companies. Our take on opening day, Oct. 17.

Canada Said Likely to Buy Kinder's Trans Mountain Pipeline

Canada's oil sector took it on the chin in 2018, with the price discount on Alberta crude falling to a record US$52.40 per barrel in October. In a bid to support the sector, Premier Rachel Notley is imposing production cuts next month, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did the unthinkable and agreed to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline and its planned expansion after its U.S. owner walked away.

Huawei CFO's Arrest Stokes China Fury Amid U.S. Trade Talks

Canada was again in the global spotlight with the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou during her stopover in Vancouver in December. Two Canadians were promptly detained in China, in what many see as a clear response by an outraged Chinese government. The U.S. bid to extradite her will be a major story in 2019.

The Unsolved Murder of an Unusual Billionaire

Almost a year after the shocking murders of billionaire couple Barry and Honey Sherman, Bloomberg BusinessWeek did a deep dive to find out who might have killed the Apotex Inc. founder and his wife. We may never get an answer.

Canada Said to Prepare Steel Quotas, Tariffs on China, Others

The year started with deep divisions over NAFTA and ended, after months of intense negotiations, with a revised deal. Canada's response to U.S. tariffs was among our most-read stories.