Originally from Tusculum, he was either the son or grandson of Lucius Caninius Gallus, the consul of 37 BC.
[1] The stemma provided by an inscription commemorating his daughter, Caninia Galla, strongly suggests that he is the son rather than grandson of the consul of 37, pace Syme.
He was the co-author of the Lex Fufia Caninia (along with his new co-consul Gaius Fufius Geminus), which restricted the manumission of slaves.
[5] Under the following emperor, Tiberius, he was the president of the curatores alvei Tiberis et riparum et cloacarum urbis (or officials responsible for maintaining the banks of the Tiber River and the sewers of the city of Rome).
Although the senate agreed, the emperor Tiberius rebuked Caninius Gallus for being rash and not following correct religious procedures, and the matter was referred to the full college of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis.