Canavan was born on March 14, 1991, in Cork, Ireland. He started his youth career at the prestigious Liverpool academy before moving to Scunthorpe United, where he made his senior debut in 2009. Canavan spent six seasons at Scunthorpe United, making over 150 appearances for the club before moving to Rochdale in 2015. He had a successful spell at Rochdale, making over 60 appearances before joining Plymouth Argyle in 2018.