[4][5] On December 9, 1924, the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) gave preliminary approval for the construction of the IND Eighth Avenue Line.

[21] The New York City Board of Transportation announced plans in November 1949 to spend $325,000 extending platforms at several IND stations, including Canal Street, to accommodate 11-car, 660-foot (200 m) trains.

Beneath the trim line and name tablets are "SPRING" and directional signs in white lettering on a black border tiled onto the walls.

[29] Blue I-beam columns run along the entire length of both platforms, with every other one having the standard black and white station signs.

Each contains banks of regular and HEET turnstiles, a token booth, and a single staircase going up to Spring Street and Sixth Avenue.

[31] The southbound platform has an un-staffed HEET entrance that has a single staircase going up to the southwest corner of Vandam Street and Sixth Avenue.

[31] There are also closed fare control areas at the north end of the station, which led to all four corners of the intersection of Prince Street/Charlton Street and Sixth Avenue.

[27] In December 1984, Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar rented all the ad space in the station for the month, and put up an installation he called "Rushes", which showed 81 photos he had taken of poor Brazilian workers digging in Serra Pelada, a government-run gold mine.

[32][33][34] The 1994 artwork installed at the stairway of the northbound platform's fare control is a large, lively mosaic called New York City Subway Station by Edith Kramer.