The Canadian business stories trending on Twitter in 2018

It’s been a big year for Canadian business. To mention only a few fundamental changes, the country navigated through the legalization of recreational cannabis, renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement and continues to grapple with the energy sector’s pipeline bottlenecks and slumping oil prices.

Those issues have been discussed at length on Twitter, with some of the country’s business leaders taking to the social media domain to vouch for Canada’s entrepreneurship talent and issues like workplace equality. The platform was also a battleground for social media users and Mountain Equipment Co-op, after the outdoor equipment retailer became the subject of public outcry over its sell of brands connected to a major U.S. gun maker.

Here’s Canada’s year in business, according to Twitter:

Canada’s most mentioned business stories of 2018 via hashtags:

USMCA negotiations (#NAFTA, #USMCA)

Trans Mountain Pipeline (#TransMountain, #KinderMorgan) 

Cannabis legalization (#LegalizationDay, #CannabisCanada, #CannabisLegalization)

Most mentioned Twitter accounts of S&P/TSX 60 companies in 2018:

TD Bank (@TD_Canada)

Bell Media (@Bell)

Rogers (@Rogers)

Thomson Reuters (@ThomsonReuters)

Royal Bank of Canada (@RBC)

Most retweeted @BNNBloomberg tweets of 2018:

“Toronto pot company offers $50/hour for ‘cannabis connoisseur’ job” Sept 19, 2018

 “W. Brett Wilson has some choice words for Canada’s NAFTA tactics” Jan 10, 2018

 “Frank McKenna, former ambassador of Canada to the U.S., on why Canada has little leverage at the negotiating table against the U.S. today”: ‘There’s no other country in the world that would do anything as dumb as this.’’ Jan 23, 2018

Key Twitter stories and campaigns of 2018:

•Nike and Colin Kaepernick – Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt.

•Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) uses Twitter to communicate discussions around Vista Outdoor and the broader firearm issue.
Feb 26, 2018 – Here’s our next update

Mar 1, 2018 – An Open Letter to MEC Members from CEO David Labistour

Most retweeted tweet by Canadians in 2018:

#BellLetsTalk – Today, every view counts. Bell will donate 5¢ to mental health initiatives for every view of this video.

Most mentioned Canadian Twitter accounts of 2018:

@JustinTrudeau

@BTS_twt

@realDonaldTrump

@YouTube

@weareoneEXO