Cannington is the oldest suburb within the City of Canning with many long-time residents, many historical buildings and sites are located within Cannington.
It is interesting to note that when the railway was laid between Perth and Armadale, Cannington was the name of the local railway station. Initial settlement was around Mason’s Landing, with a secondary settlement growing to service the first. The secondary accompanying evolution was the market gardens and farming along the rich alluvial river flats that supported the growing settlement.
Cannington contains one of the Perth metropolitan area’s largest shopping complexes, Westfield Carousel, first built in 1972 and extensively refurbished and expanded in the 1990’s before undergoing a $350 million redevelopment in 2018, which includes a Hoyts cinema complex. Albany Hwy contains a range of shops and small warehouses, and Bentley Hospital is just beyond the northwestern boundary on Mills Street.
Along the Canning River is the Canning River Regional Park, which contains walking tracks and picnic facilities as well as the Woodloes Museum, a restored 1874 house built by architect and pioneer Francis Bird. Various sports and leisure facilities, including soccer fields, ten-pin bowling and an indoor athletics centre. The Canning showgrounds which includes the Cannington raceway which is a greyhound racetrack and Cannington Exhibition Centre.
Kent St Weir was constructed in 1926 across the Canning River, connecting Wilson and Ferndale in the City of Canning. The heritage-listed structure is owned by the Department of Water and operated by the Department of Parks and Wildlife. It is 52 m long, and has undergone a number of reconstructions in its lifetime. It is highly valued by the local community and forms an integral linkage between Kent Street Weir Park and Canning River Regional Park.