Canning is a village in northeastern Kings County,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

located at the crossroads of Route 221 and Route 358.

History

The area was originally settled by

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

s who were expelled in 1755 during the

Acadian Expulsion The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal of inhabitants of the North American region historically known as Acadia between 1755 and 1764 by Great Britain. It included the modern Canadian Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Br ...

. After the Acadians, Canning - first called Apple Tree Landing and later Habitant Corner - was settled in 1760 by

New England Planters The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor (and subsequently governor) of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign ...

and by the Dutch following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The present name was adopted in honour of British prime minister

George Canning George Canning (; 11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the U ...

. Though much diminished in importance in recent years, Canning was once a major shipbuilding centre and

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

and rail hub for farmers in Kings County. Canning merchants and farmers founded the Cornwallis Valley Railway which ran from 1889 to 1961, connecting the village to the Dominion Atlantic Railway mainline in Kentville, Nova Scotia."Canning", ''Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative''
/ref> The village suffered three major fires, in 1866, 1868 and 1912. NSRoute358

The Canadian parliamentarian Sir Frederick William Borden had a home in Canning. A cousin of Sir

Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942), Conservative politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known ...

, Sir Frederick was Minister of Militia prior to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Canning has a prominent statue to the most famous Canadian casualty of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, Harold Lothrop Borden, a son of Sir Frederick. He died in the Battle of Witpoort. Canning was also the home of country singer Wilf Carter. He was made an honorary citizen of Canning, Nova Scotia in 1978. Carter was born in Port Hilford, Nova Scotia, but spend a great deal of his childhood working in and visiting the village and its surrounding farmland. The village is home to Glooscap Elementary School, with a student population of over 200, and Northeast Kings Education Centre (NKEC), a middle school/high school with a student population of around 1000 students and 80 staff. NKEC is the first AP Capstone designated school in Nova Scotia and the first in the world to offer the virtual AP Capstone Program. The Canning Lighthouse was built in 1904 to serve the port at Borden's Wharf. It was restored in the 1990s, after more than 50 years of disuse and abandonment, and was used by the village as a

tourist information centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic ce ...

. It was moved in 2003 to a new waterfront site on the Habitant River behind the village's small museum, where its top section was rebuilt by NKEC students. Canning is on the rise but is facing gentrification of the once affordable village.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Canning had a population of 716 living in 311 of its 327 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 731. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Canning is home to numerous local amenities such as a supermarket,liquor store,pharmacy,hardware store,gas station/garage,coffee shop and multiple little restaurants, Canning is also home to a bank and serves the citizens of the local surrounding communities

Library and natural attractions

* Merritt Gibson Memorial Library * Bigelow Trail * Blomidon Look-off Provincial Park * Bruce Spicer Park * Scots Bay Provincial Park

References

External links

*
Canning Village
(official website)
Canning, Nova Scotia

{{Subdivisions of Nova Scotia 1760 establishments in Nova Scotia Populated places established in 1760 Communities in Kings County, Nova Scotia Villages in Nova Scotia Designated places in Nova Scotia Unincorporated communities in Nova Scotia George Canning