How to migrate a Non-Academic Course - Canvas Migration

OVERVIEW

This article provides instructions on how to migrate your non-academic courses as part of the transition to Canvas Cloud.

If you're looking for instructions to migrate a credit course, see How to migrate a Credit Course.

• What is a non-academic course?
• What should I do?
  • For non-academic courses with a completion date
  • For non-academic courses that are permanently running
  • For other types of non-academic courses
• Before you migrate
• How to migrate
• Next steps for non-academic courses
• Exceptions for course continuity on Canvas On-Premise

WHAT IS A NON-ACADEMIC COURSE?

Non-academic courses in Canvas are instructional offerings that are not tied to a degree or certificate academic program. Typically, these are designed to facilitate: 

• Training, programs or orientation as a course in Canvas 
• Student club or extra-curricular activities as a course in Canvas 
• Event or workshop as a course in Canvas 
• And more... 

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Whether or not you should migrate your non-academic Canvas course depends on many factors, including the type and duration of the course. Determine which case your course best matches with and take the corresponding action. Below are three categorized types of non-academic courses: 

• Non-academic courses with a completion date
• Non-academic courses that are permanently running
• Other types of non-academic courses

FOR NON-ACADEMIC COURSES WITH A COMPLETION DATE

Example Courses

• SFU 101: Spring 2025
• Job Search Success – Fall 2025
• Leadership Foundation Program 2025-26
• Training 2025WHIMIS
• Student Ambassador Program 2024-2025
• SFU JDC West 2025

FOR NON-ACADEMIC COURSES THAT ARE PERMANENTLY RUNNING

Example Courses

• MMC: 3D Printing
• Learning Pathways VPFA Employees
• Returning from Study Abroad 101
• Community Engagement Volunteer Training
• 4D Labs Safety Training
• SEE Co-op SkillBuilder 

FOR OTHER TYPES OF NON-ACADEMIC COURSES

COURSES USED FOR CONTENT STORAGE, RESEARCH DATA, RECORD KEEPING OR SHARED RESOURCES

Examples Courses

• Writing Resources
• Interview Tip
• Job Descriptions at SFU
• Teaching Resources and Policy
• High School Outreach Portfolio
• FAS Graduate Program Coordinator Manual 

COURSES USED FOR RESEARCH GROUPS, WORKING OR INTEREST GROUPS, DISCUSSION FORUMS, COMMUNITIES OR COMMITTEES

Example Courses

• Experiential Learning Community of Practice
• NVivo User Community
• Indigenous Knowledge Holders
• In-No-Particular-Order: Discussions on Interdisciplinarity
• CREATE HyTEM Program Committee 
• Elders and Community Members

BEFORE YOU MIGRATE

When selecting a course to migrate using the course migration tool (migrate.its.sfu.ca), the following items will or won't automatically transfer to Canvas Cloud.

HOW TO MIGRATE

As long as the course instructional content won't be changing (i.e., no newly created modules, assignments, pages, quizzes, etc.), you're free to migrate at any time. We recommend migrating your course early to ensure that you have sufficient time to complete 'next steps' before the launch in January 2026.

IT Services has a course migration tool to support course migration, along with guides to support its use:

STEP 1. Visit the course migration tool at migrate.its.sfu.ca or select the button. You may be asked to sign in with your SFU Computing ID.

COURSE MIGRATION TOOL

STEP 2. Select the Canvas course you wish to migrate to Canvas Cloud on the drop-down menu. If you don't see your course, try Refresh List.

STEP 3. Select Submit Query. 

STEP 4. Select Confirm. 

STEP 5. The tool will begin migrating your course behind the scenes. Migrating large courses may be delayed during peak times. You can choose to leave the page and return to the course migration tool at migrate.its.sfu.ca.

Once the progress is complete, a web link will be displayed that directs you to the migrated course on Canvas Cloud. You can also find the migrated course under Courses > All Courses in Canvas Cloud.

NEXT STEPS FOR NON-ACADEMIC COURSES

After you have migrated your course:

1. Review the course for any issues and make necessary adjustments. 

• In rare cases, links to media files or third-party tools (LTIs) may not transfer correctly and may need to be manually updated.
• Some modules or pages may not retain its 'published/unpublished' state.
   

2. Copy or import the content from your migrated course to a new course shell (optional). This allows you to adjust terms, dates and more on assignments and announcements.

• You can create a new course shell using the Start a New Course tool. Alternatively, you can simply rename and re-purpose the migrated course shell.
   

3. Explore New Quizzes. You have the option to convert your quizzes from Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes.

• Please note that once a Classic Quiz converted to a New Quiz, it cannot be reverted.
   

4. Re-add users (students, instructors, designers) to your course.

• Enrolment-related data (i.e., roles, groups, etc.) are not transferred when migrating a course. For instructions on re-adding your students, visit How to migrate Users to another course.
• If you encounter an error, "We were unable to find matches below", simply select 'Next' to skip the user(s). Do not select any check boxes (refrain from creating them as new users). See How to migrate Users to another course for details on this error.
   

5. Configuring your course in such a way that students can continue progressing through the course without past student work (i.e., quiz submissions, assignments, discussion replies, etc.) since student work can't be migrated (if applicable to your course).

• For example, you may want to remove module restrictions/prerequisites tied to assignments or quizzes if asking students to redo them is not an option.
   

6. Notify your students in January 2026 on any important changes to the course (if applicable to your course).

• If needed for your course, canvas-old.sfu.ca is available starting January 2026 to access past course content.
   

7. Learn more about feature differences between Canvas On-Premise and Canvas Cloud.

COURSES USING MAILLISTS FOR AUTOMATIC ENROLMENTS (MAILLIST INTEGRATION)

As of April 30, 2025, SFU Maillist has been transitioned to SFU Groups. If you are migrating a course that has automatic enrolments via maillists and would like to continue using this feature, you will need to request an SFU Groups security group as a replacement for the maillist.

Once you have a security group, request a support ticket using Canvas - Request Help for us to connect that security group to your course on Canvas Cloud.

Note: Grouper integration with Canvas Cloud will be available late Fall 2025. We suggest you prepare a security group ahead of time.

EXCEPTIONS FOR COURSE CONTINUITY ON CANVAS ON-PREMISE

Due to technical limitations with Canvas, student work tied to a course cannot be transferred to Canvas Cloud using the course migration tool. These components include: 

• Assignment submissions 
• Quiz submissions and results 
• Discussion replies 

If existing student work is critical to the delivery of your non-academic course and cannot be moved over manually, it may be more appropriate to continue running the course on Canvas On-Premise until its conclusion. 

We advise against this approach as it may cause unnecessary disruption for students who would need to navigate between two separate Canvas platforms.  

Examples where this option may be considered can be a course with: 

• A large number of students have already submitted assignments or quizzes which are linked with unlocking modules and altering this is not an option. 
• A large number of students have already submitted assignments or quizzes which continually need to be used throughout the course delivery 
• A large number of posted discussions and replies that are critical to continuing the course delivery and manually copying these over to a new course shell is not feasible. 

THIS APPLIES TO MY COURSE. WHAT SHOULD I KNOW? 

If you choose to continue delivering the non-academic course on Canvas On-Premise, you should know the following: 

Platform Transition Impacts 

Starting January 2026, the web link, canvas.sfu.ca, will redirect to Canvas Cloud. To access Canvas On-Premise, users must use the updated web link: canvas-old.sfu.ca.  

Service Reduction

In 2026, Canvas On-Premise will be scaled back and run at a lower capacity as most usage will have moved to Canvas Cloud. Due to software licensing changes, there will also be recurring service outages in order to apply updates and security fixes.

Student Communication Required 

You’ll need to proactively inform students of your decision to remain on Canvas On-Premise, only particular to your course. You will also need to inform students of the updated web link. Clear communication will help minimize confusion and ensure continued access to course materials. 

Course End Date 

Courses that choose to continue on Canvas On-Premise must be concluded before the end of December 2026. After this date, access to this platform should only be for temporary archival purposes.