After the Acadians, Canning - first called Apple Tree Landing and later Habitant Corner - was settled in 1760 by New England Planters and by the Dutch following World War II.

[2] Though much diminished in importance in recent years, Canning was once a major shipbuilding centre and shipping and rail hub for farmers in Kings County.

Canning has a prominent statue to the most famous Canadian casualty of the Second Boer War, Harold Lothrop Borden, a son of Sir Frederick.

Carter was born in Port Hilford, Nova Scotia, but spend a great deal of his childhood working in and visiting the village and its surrounding farmland.

[5] It was moved in 2003 to a new waterfront site on the Habitant River behind the village's small museum, where its top section was rebuilt by NKEC students.