It is said that the harbour of Canso was frequented by European fur traders and fishermen within a dozen years of the arrival of Columbus in America, and an attempt at settlement was made here as early as 1518.

Marie de Grace, in 1632 at La Hève (now LaHave) with Nicholas Le Creux du Breuil as lieutenant.

[6] Upon Razilly's death in 1635, the new Governor Charles de Menou d'Aulnay moved the Acadians from La Hève to Port Royal, which had been given up by the Scottish also in 1632.

[7] Shortly after Cyprian Southack established himself at Shelburne, Nova Scotia in 1715, the Mi'kmaq raided the station and burned it to the ground.

Leading HMS Squirrel, Southack laid siege for three days to Fort St. Louis at Chedabucto, which was defended primarily by Acadians.

[17] Construction of such a permanent facility was a violation of long-standing agreements between the Mi'kmaq and the fishermen, and also helped to precipitate Father Rale's War.

[18] In 1721, the governor of Massachusetts took a proprietary attitude toward the Canso fisheries, and sent HMS Seahorse to patrol the waters off Nova Scotia.

[19] HMS Seahorse was replaced in 1721 by the first naval ship of Nova Scotia, William Augustus, under the command of Cyprian Southack.

[20] In the lead up to Father Rale's War, in July 1722, the Mi'kmaq and some Abenakis began a major offensive against New England fishermen and traders in an attempt to blockade the Nova Scotia capital of Annapolis Royal.

[21] Only five native bodies were recovered from the battle and the New Englanders decapitated the corpses and set the severed heads on pikes surrounding Canso's new fort.

[29] General Sir William Pepperell arrived at Canso, Nova Scotia, with four thousand and seventy troops, April 4, 1745, and, in three weeks was joined by Commodore Warren, with four ships from England.

During Father Le Loutre's War, in August 1749, Lieutenant Joseph Gorham was at Canso and his party was attacked by Mi'kmaq.

[32][33][34][35] On February 21, 1753, 9 Mi'kmaq in canoes attacked an English vessel which had a crew of four at near-by Country Harbour, Nova Scotia.

There he recruited men to fill the vacancies created by manning his prizes, burned a British fishing schooner, sank a second, and captured a third besides a shallop which he used as a tender.

Boats from the ship raided the community, his crews burned a transport bound for Canada with provisions and a warehouse full of whale oil, besides capturing a small schooner.

[41] In early 2017, Maritime Launch Services announced it intended to lease land near Canso to build and operate Canada's only active commercial spaceport, using the Ukrainian Cyclone-4M rocket.

[44] Canso is host to the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, an annual event held around the Canada Day weekend.

This week-long event includes boat races, a mid-way, parade, seaman's memorial, hootenannies as well as various activities for the youth.

[45] Nova Scotia Trunk 16, a secondary highway important to the counties of Antigonish and Guysborough, terminates in Canso, its easternmost point.