[5] Born in Toronto and raised in Brampton, Ontario, Buchanan is the youngest of seven girls (ten siblings total) in a single-parent home.

Buchanan's parents are originally from Jamaica; her father was born in Saint Thomas Parish and her mother in Montego Bay.

Buchanan attended Cardinal Leger Secondary School, where she played flag football, volleyball, basketball, and soccer.

[7] Buchanan played college soccer at West Virginia University, for the Mountaineers, where she co-captained the team, qualified for the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll,[7] and won numerous more accolades.

Upon graduating from West Virginia University, Buchanan was a highly rated prospect prior to the 2017 NWSL College Draft.

[16] Buchanan scored her first international goal against the United States on May 8, 2014, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in front of the second largest crowd to ever watch a women's soccer game in Canada.