Canadian is a residential suburb located approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south-east of Ballarat Central.

The gully and the Canadian deep lead (buried gold-bearing riverbed) below it were extremely rich, and one area known as the "Jewellers' Shop" yielded over a ton of gold.

However, the rush ended within several years and the nuggets found there were surpassed both in size and in public memory by later discoveries, such as the Welcome Stranger.

[2] Ellsworth Street became the boundary between the City of Ballarat and the now non-existent Shire of Buninyong, putting Canadian in both municipalities.

The suburb was historically not well-regarded, because Buninyong Road sometimes became marsh, and there was a lepers' camp nearby in southern Golden Point.