Born in Princeton, Illinois to John Nelson and Ellen Boyd, McAnuff is a citizen of United States and Canada. He lived briefly in Guelph, Ontario, attending grade 4 at St. George's Public School. His family then moved to Scarborough, Ontario, at the time a suburb of Toronto, and attended high school at Woburn Collegiate Institute where he made his first theatrical appearance in the school's production of "The Sound of Music", playing the role of Kurt. Later, with the help of two friends, he wrote the music and lyrics to a rock musical called "Urbania", which was performed by the high school drama club. He attended Ryerson University, but never completed his degree. In June 2011, he was awarded an honorary degree by the Ryerson Theatre School.