Caniço is a Portuguese town and parish in the municipality of Santa Cruz, on the island of Madeira. It has an area of 12 km², 23 368 inhabitants (2011) and a population density of 1 947.3 inhabitants/km². It is located at a latitude of 32,633 (32°38') North and a longitude of 16.85 (16°51') West. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean to the south and is mountainous to the north. It was elevated to the village category on April 19, 2000 and the city on June 10, 2005.

The name of the village comes from the name given to the plant Phragmites communis, commonly called sedge or reed, which existed abundantly in the area at the time of the discovery of the island of Madeira.

Outside Funchal and Machico, Caniço was one of the first ten places created and populated and, early on, land was cleared and cultivated.

Upon colonization, the island was divided into two captaincies, passing the dividing line through the locality of Caniço. In fact, the Caniço stream was part of this line, which started at Ponta da Oliveira and ended at Ponta do Tristão, in Porto Moniz.

The Parish of Caniço was founded in 1438 or 1440, being one of the oldest on the island, and at first consisted of two churches. One on the right bank of the stream, whose patron was the Holy Spirit, and another on the left bank, that of Santo Antão. Over time, the church of Santo Antão gained primacy over the other. In 1778, both were already in ruins and, in 1783, the current parish church of Caniço was inaugurated, whose tower is more recent and was completed in 1874.

The lands on the right bank of the stream were called Caniço de Baixo for Funchal and, later, Caniço de Baixo for the City and belonged to the captaincy-donator of Funchal, while those on the left bank were called Caniço de Cima to Machico and belonged to the captaincy of Machico. Each of the sites had its seaport, respectively, Reis Magos, the oldest, and Portinho.

There was a private notary here, of which records exist since 1488.

It is said that the first mill in Madeira was built in Caniço, on the Azenha site, still in the lifetime of João Gonçalves Zarco (c. 1390–1471).

In 1676, the parish of Camacha dismembered from Caniço.

Until 1835, the parish belonged to the municipality of Funchal and, in that year, it was incorporated into the municipality of Santa Cruz.

On April 19, 2000, the town of Caniço was elevated to a town by Regional Legislative Decree No. 10/2000/M, where the preamble reads: «The town of Caniço has become the largest tourist development pole of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, after Funchal, and is one of the most desirable housing areas.»

On June 10, 2005, the town of Caniço was elevated to a city by Regional Legislative Decree no. of the most sought after housing areas.

According to the National Statistics Institute, in 1864 Caniço had a population density of 2,351 inhabitants, doubling in 1911 with 4,739 inhabitants, and in the last censuses, in 2011, it reached 23,368 inhabitants.