The school opened in 1969 as a comprehensive high school.[4] It was the last in a series of ten high schools built by the Collegiate Board to deal with a growing population of teenagers. At the time of its opening, it was considered an extremely modern school, employing all the latest ideas in education. Most notably, many of its walls were movable (no longer a feature), allowing for an easy reorganization of space. It also had one of the largest libraries and auditoriums of any Ottawa area school. From 1969 to 1976, Canterbury offered a technical program based in aerospace engineering. The school operated a 1969 Cessna 190J (CF-CHS) and a Schweitzer 2-33 glider (CF-ABE), providing unique research opportunities to students. However, the Ottawa Board of Education eventually withdrew support due to liability issues.
The school's arts program began in 1983, making Canterbury High School an arts magnet school for the Ottawa-Gatineau region. There are five different arts programs that students must audition and interview for to be accepted into: dance, dramatic arts, literary arts, music (winds and percussion, strings, or voice), and visual arts.[5][6]
The school maintains an athletics program which includes wrestling, rowing, swimming, volleyball, baseball, basketball, soccer, football, water polo, curling, ultimate frisbee, ice hockey, rugby and track and field.
