[7] Both the Land Transport Master Plan 2013 (launched by then-Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew in October)[8][9] and the Draft Master Plan 2013 (unveiled by the Urban Redevelopment Authority during a public exhibition in November) mentioned the possible addition of a new MRT station between Sembawang and Yishun stations.

As a result of the accident, LTA and SMRT implemented several measures to improve safety such as limiting major work to non-service hours, sheltering the tracks with a temporary enclosure during the roof's construction and creating a full-scale mock-up of the station structure and roof to determine the safest method of construction.

[20][21] By September 2017, the station was 40% complete, with its deep foundation works in place and construction proceeding to the next stage where platform slabs were cast.

[31] Canberra station is located in the eastern part of Sembawang, next to the residential town of Yishun and near Sungei Simpang Kiri river.

Residents and stakeholders from the nearby Sembawang Group Representation Constituency contributed to the artwork by drawing imaginative plants and animals after a workshop that involved a nature walk.

As a part of the heritage-themed Comic Connect public art display by SMRT,[40] the mural depicts a juxtaposed version of Beaulieu House as a naval office in the past and part of Sembawang Park in the present, Sembawang Hot Spring Park, and Bukit Canberra.

Four of these are connected by covered pathways to a pair of bus stops, two passenger drop off and pick-up points and parking for over 500 bicycles.

The fifth is a sheltered footbridge built across Canberra Link which allows passengers to bypass the concourse level and access the Marina South Pier-bound (city-bound) platform directly.

[23][28] The bridge is linked to Canberra Plaza, a three-story shopping mall project by the HDB as part of a mixed-use transit-oriented development.