In 1849, a post office was opened, at which point the settlement was renamed Cannington after former British foreign secretary and Prime Minister George Canning (1770–1827).

French Immersion students are bused to Port Perry High School, which offers the program.

After Findley moved to France due to declining health, dancer Rex Harrington purchased Stone Orchard.

[citation needed] Cannington's public library, the Timothy Findley Memorial Branch, is named after him.

[4] Cannington is the birthplace of Rick MacLeish (1950–2016), an NHL hockey player who played with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1970s and 1980s.