Canford Heath is a suburb, an area of heathland, and an electoral ward in Poole, Dorset.

In 1929, a hillclimb event for the "Motorcycle and Light Car Club" was staged here,[5] and during the Second World War, the heath was used as a munitions storage.

[12] In response, an application was made in 1985 for much of Canford Heath to become a SSSI, due to the rare habitat and wildlife on the heathland.

A report by the Conservation Committee of the British Herpetological Society to the House of Lords in 1988 said that "more than half of Canford, our largest single heath, is being built over with most of its reptiles doomed or already lost",[16] and a 1988 New Scientist article claimed that the SSSI boundary had been drawn around planning permission on the heath granted by Bournemouth Council, and that houses could be built as little as 50 metres away from the SSSI, endangering rare reptiles.

[17] In 1991, then Secretary of State Michael Heseltine revoked planning consent for development on all of Canford Heath.

[20] In 2006, a heath fire started by arsonists caused around 100 people to be evacuated from their homes, and required around 170 firefighters to put out.

[23] In 2015, another fire spread over 2 ha of heathland, and required 70 firefighters;[24][25] the damage caused could take 15–25 years for the heath to return to its former state.

[28][29] Dozens of animals were reported killed, and Dorset Wildlife Trust said that it would take 15 years for the heath to be restored.

[42] Canford Heath has grown its own community life with two public houses (The Haymoor and The Pilot), churches, an ASDA supermarket, five schools and a range of social activities for young people.

[45] Since 2019, Canford Heath ward has elected 3 councillors to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.