Canning appeared in I Think I Do, which began filming in January 2012, where she starred as Audrey, an event planner who ran a business alongside her two sisters. She also filmed the independent romantic comedy, The Right Kind of Wrong, in Banff, Alberta in late 2012. She then starred in the dark romantic comedy, I Put a Hit on You. Canning relocated to Atlanta, Georgia to film The Vampire Diaries, stating to Parade that she found the Southern U.S. had “…a much different culture than the west coast of Canada…”, but it became like her “second home”. Canning lived in Atlanta for two years then returned to Vancouver after finishing the series.