Cranston was also an accomplished artist and produced, by his family’s estimation, around 20,000 paintings. In addition, he wrote or co-wrote a number of books, including the autobiographical Zero Tollerance (1997) and When Hell Freezes Over, Should I Bring My Skates? (2000).
He became a Member of the Order of Canada in 1976 and was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1976), Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (1977), Skate Canada Hall of Fame (1997) and the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame (2004). In 2003, he received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.