Canvas Feature Updates: Summer 2026

Note: This is a Feature Preview that requires turning on for each course within Settings. 

IgniteAI Question Authoring helps instructors create multiple choice questions in New Quizzes using course content, typed text, or uploaded files. Questions can be tailored to learning outcomes, Bloom’s taxonomy levels, and different depths of knowledge. This feature is currently limited to five questions at a time. 

This feature can provide a useful jump-start when building a new quiz. Use it to create a first draft, then review and revise the questions to suit your course and students. 

Ideas and Tips

1. Generate low-stakes practice questions from a module reading. 
2. Use different Bloom’s levels to create a mix of recall, application, and analysis questions. 
3. Start with one page, file, or focused topic before using larger sets of content.

 To learn more about how to get started with the new Question Authoring feature, be sure to check out the USask Knowledge Base article.

Canvas Portfolio offers two options: Showcase Portfolios and Evaluation Portfolios. Showcase Portfolios give students a space to collect, reflect on, and share evidence of their learning, while Evaluation Portfolios allow instructors and programs to structure assessment around competencies, required evidence, and reflection. Portfolios can remain private or be shared via a public link. 

Portfolios are particularly useful for reflective learning, practicums, professional skills, and competency-based assessment. They support USask Assessment Principle #4 by helping students become more self-directed, reflective, and engaged learners. Portfolios can also help students demonstrate the USask Student Competencies, particularly Cultivating Well-Being, by reflecting on their progress and making purposeful adjustments to their learning. 

The Portfolio tool is easy to find directly in your course navigation. 

Ideas and Tips 

1. Ask students to curate examples of their work and explain what each demonstrates. 
2. Connect coursework and co-curricular experiences to professional skills or USask Student Competencies. 
3. Build portfolio checkpoints across a course, program, or field experience.

 To learn more about using Portfolios in your learning environment, be sure to visit the USask Knowledge Base article. You may also benefit from reviewing our articles on using reflection in your courses. 

Note: This is a Feature Preview that requires turning on both Student Assignment Enhancements and Peer Review Allocation and Grading for each course within Settings. 

Canvas Peer Review has been redesigned with smarter allocation and clearer deadlines. The updated allocation engine assigns reviews based on actual submissions and reduces the need for instructors to manage the process manually. 

Peer review supports USask Assessment Principle #3 by giving students opportunities to learn through practice and feedback before completing their final work. The new ability to add a deadline for peer reviews also makes the activity easier for students to find and complete in Canvas. 

Ideas and Tips 

1. Set the assignment deadline first, then set the peer review deadline a few days later. 
2. Use peer review to provide feedback on drafts before students submit their final work. 
3. Add a rubric or guiding questions to focus student feedback.

 Ready to start adding peer reviews to your course? Start by learning more about them in the USask Knowledge Base article.

Differentiation Tags allow instructors to create sets of students and assign specific content, availability windows, or due dates to them. Because tags are not visible to students, instructors can efficiently provide extra time or support different learning pathways without creating visible student groups. For example, you can use tags to apply extended deadlines for students who need extra time, rather than setting separate available until and due dates for each student on each exam. 

Ideas and Tips 

1. Apply extended availability windows or due dates to students who need extra time. 
2. Assign different content or activities to specific sets of students. 
3. Organize students by project pathway, case study, lab, or tutorial section. 

 To learn more about Differentiation Tags, please visit our USask Knowledge Base article. 

Accessibility means identifying and removing barriers that prevent people from fully participating in learning. The Course Accessibility Checker supports this work by scanning Canvas Pages and Assignments for common issues, including missing alt text, skipped heading levels, table formatting, broken links, and colour contrast. 

Unlike the checker in the Rich Content Editor, which reviews one item at a time, the Course Accessibility Checker reviews content across your course and provides guidance for addressing common issues. This tool supports the teaching and learning priorities in USask’s Accessibility Plan and our shared responsibility to create more accessible learning environments. 

You may see some flags for USask-branded colours, such as white text on USask green, even though this combination is considered accessible by most measures. Use the checker to identify and prioritize improvements - not as a guarantee that all course content is accessible. 

Ideas and Tips 

1. Run the checker before publishing a course or after copying course content. 
2. Begin with high-impact improvements to headings, links, alt text, and tables. 
3. Use the checker’s explanations to improve how you develop future course content.

 To learn more about how the Accessibility Checker can help you ensure your materials are accessible, please review the USask Knowledge Base article.

Note: This is a Feature Preview that requires turning on both Student Assignment Enhancements and Enhanced Rubrics for each course within Settings. The “Enable self assessment” toggle must also be turned on after attaching a rubric to the assignment. 

Self-assessment rubrics allow students to review their work using the same criteria their instructor will use. After submitting, students can score and comment on their work, and instructors can view their self-assessment in SpeedGrader. 

The self-assessment does not affect the student’s grade. Instead, it supports USask Assessment Principle #4 by helping students become more self-directed, reflective, and engaged learners. It can be particularly useful for drafts, reflections, field activities, and other assignments where the learning process matters. 

Ideas and Tips 

1. Use self-assessment when students would benefit from a clearer understanding of expectations. 
2. Ask students to identify one area of strength and one area where they would like feedback. 
3. Compare students’ self-assessments with your feedback to guide follow-up conversations.

 To learn more, please review the USask Knowledge Base article.

Note: This is a Feature Preview that requires turning on for each course within Settings. 

IgniteAI Translations for Discussions & Announcements allow users to translate messages and posts in Canvas Discussions and Announcements into another language. The original content remains available, and users choose when to view a translation. 

Before enabling this feature at USask, we collaborated with the International Student and Study Abroad Centre (ISSAC) to test the experience and better understand how it could support our community. The feature can help reduce language barriers and support participation for students whose first language differs from the language of instruction. 

Canvas also supports translations in the Inbox tool, though this option is not currently enabled at USask as it would automatically apply across all courses and users. Feedback on this decision would also be welcome. 

Ideas and Tips 

1. Use translations to support students navigating course communication in an additional language. 
2. Consider how translated Discussions could support participation and belonging in your course.

 To learn more about IgniteAI Translations for Discussions & Announcements, please visit the USask Knowledge Base article.

- Support for USask educators -

Want Canvas updates as they happen? 

If you like staying ahead of new Canvas features, you can join the new Microsoft Teams channel for updates, early notes, testing opportunities, and rollout information. 

• Request to join: Learning Tech – New Features

Can’t find one of these features? 

If a listed feature does not appear in your Canvas course, contact the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning or IT Support for help with clarifying availability, settings, or next steps.

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^{Title image credit: Manueldesign20 | on Pixabay.com
This article was created with the assistance of AI tools, as described in the GMCTL AI Disclosure Statement.}

This resource is shared by the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL), University of Saskatchewan, under a CC BY-NC-SA license.