[2] Canning covered much of Perth's inner southern region, being reduced progressively as suburban areas such as Applecross, South Perth, Victoria Park and Belmont developed and became populous enough to require their own electorates.
By the time of its dissolution it corresponded approximately with the present-day Kenwick district and had become a safe Labor Party seat.
Most of this area was rural at the time, and at the 1897 election contained only 321 enrolled voters, but from the 1920s onwards and especially after World War II, suburban development along with electoral reform resulted in areas meeting the threshold to require an elected member.
In the 1929 redistribution, Victoria Park was established and areas northeast of Orrong Road were moved into Middle Swan.
Other areas were split in subsequent redistributions: In its final incarnation, from 1983 until 1989, Canning included the suburbs of Beckenham, Ferndale, Kenwick, Langford, Lynwood, Thornlie and Wattle Grove, and parts of Cannington and East Cannington.