Many breeders have encountered problems in breeding birds. The most common cause is getting the birds in condition prior to breeding. Once you provide them with the necessary items for them to become strong and healthy then nature will help with the rest.

STEP 1 (Not Optional)
Nutrition:
The hens egg will consist of up to 25% of her body mass. Canary hens require calcium in order to form their eggs. This means that either cuttlebone, mineral gravel, or baked sterile eggshell bits must always be available to them. Vitamins should be available to the birds year round. I prefer to use dry powdered vitamins. They are readily consumed when sprinkled over soft foods, fruit, or greens. During breeding season and shortly before I give the birds a hard boiled egg that is cut in half shell and all. This gives them added protein from the egg and calcium from the egg shell.

STEP 2
Light:
Canaries are affected by the change of the amount of light throughout the day. The lengthening or shortening of day light stimulates the canaries for different natural responses. The canaries begin breeding with a response to the lengthening days of spring. 

At about 10 hours of daylight the canaries start to be more active. The male starts singing vigorously and the hen is very active. By the time the daylight is about 11 hours the hen starts to carry nesting material and begin to build a nest. Finally with about 12 hours of daylight you might see some eggs. Larger breeds such as my Norwich wait till about 14 hours to lay eggs.

I provide ample sunlight in order that the breeding response will be naturally stimulated. I also have full spectrum lighting in the cages in order to view the birds better. The lights are on a timer that I set to go off an hour before sundown and go on an hour after sunup. This allows the birds to get a natural sense of  the time to rest and wake up. It also allows the birds to get that last snack or feed the babies before the night. If the lights were just abruptly switched off the birds do not slowly settle down for the night. If the hen is not on the nest before the lights go out, the eggs may not survive, since canaries see little or nothing in the dark, and she will not be able to find her way back to the nest in the dark.

STEP 3
Nest:
The nest should be hung where you can easily remove and inspect the eggs. I use a standard plastic nest. There are many type of nest baskets, but be cautious of the ones that are wood or coconut which are not easily cleaned and disinfected. I line the nest with a standard store bought liner and give the birds some nesting material so that they could add to the nest. 

STEP 4 (Optional)
Removing eggs:
In order to help the chicks survive against the struggle to get food. The eggs are removed as it is laid and replace it with a fake egg. Most of the times the hen is happy to see that the nest is back and will not notice the egg has been switched. You can place the egg into a bowl on top of bird seed. This gives the egg some stability, if you move it around it will not roll into another egg or hit the side. I keep the eggs at room temperature. Once the clutch is laid then you can replace all the eggs back into the nest. The clutch can be between 3 to 5 eggs. You can tell when the last eggs is laid because it will be bluer than the rest. There is an obvious difference in the coloration. Then when the complete clutch is laid all the eggs are returned back into the nest for the hen to incubate. The warmth from the hen starts the development of the chick. The eggs simply stop developing when the conditions are not right, and resume development when proper conditions return. With all the eggs beginning at the same time, they will all hatch around the same time, in around 13 days. This helps the chicks be equally as aggressive in asking for food from mom. If the eggs are left alone there can be up to a four day age difference in the size of the siblings. It doesn't sound like a lot but it can be double the size.

Setting the eggs:
Always set (replace) the eggs early in the morning. Therefore the eggs will hatch in the morning also. This gives the newly hatched bird the most daylight time to get some food from mom.

STEP 5
Eggs Hatch:
The eggs will hatch in about 13 days. I try to minimize any activity I have to do in the cage. The following is a wonderful link that shows the development of a chick over its first couple days. 
Exquisite Exotics Aviary- Developing Chick

STEP 6
Feeding:
I put in moist nestling food for the hen to feed to the chick. I use the Quicko brand but there are many out there. I also give the hen a hard boiled egg cut in half along with the peel to give her some added protein for the hard work of feeding begging chicks.

STEP 7
Banding the chick:
The chicks are the right age to band the first day they begin to deposit on the rim of the nest. Baby chicks are usually banded on the 7th day of their life. Of course there are exceptions. Chicks born first or fed more, will grow at a faster rate. Chicks born later, or not fed as well, will grow slower and may have to be banded a day or two later. I band the chicks in the evening. This way I try to minimize the hen from trying to pull off the band from the chick. The birds will go to sleep and hopefully the hen will forget that there is something different about the chick.

STEP 8
Enjoy: