In this paper, we prove exponential tail bounds for canonical (or degenerate) $U$-statistics and $U$-processes under exponential-type tail assumptions on the kernels. Most of the existing results in the relevant literature often assume bounded kernels or obtain sub-optimal tail behavior under unbounded kernels. We obtain sharp rates and optimal tail behavior under sub-Weibull kernel functions. Some examples from nonparametric and semiparametric statistics literature are considered.