One of the advantages of a canard layout - where the horizontal stabiliser is forward of the main-plane, is that a canard is inherently stable in pitch but, nevertheless, produces positive lift from its stabiliser, thus reducing the lift requirement of the main-plane.
Thats true, but the problem with a canard configuration which some times gets overlooked is that the mainplane can not operate close to its CLmax because of the requiremjent for the fore plane to stall first, hence the mainplane tends to be over sized. No free lunch.