Difference between 301 redirection and rel=canonical ?

[savetakatak]

301 Redirect is a HTTP status code that is used to communicate to software and search engines that the original page that is trying to be accessed has been moved permanently to a new webpage. When your browser receives this code it will automatically go to the new URL which is mentioned together with the 301 status code.
Canonical Attribute is not a redirect. A rel=canonical attribute will not redirect a visitor to the new URL, instead it is used as a signal for search engines to indicate which page to index in the search results when similar or duplicated content appears within a website.