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OVERVIEW
This article provides instructions on how to use migrate a credit course as part of the transition to Canvas Cloud.
If you're looking for instructions to migrate a non-academic course, see How to migrate a Non-Academic Course.
WHAT IS A CREDIT COURSE?
Credit courses in Canvas are instructional offerings that are tied to a degree or certificate academic program. These courses in Canvas are automatically populated with students.
TIP
Instructors teaching in Spring 2026 can find their credit course shell on the Canvas Cloud Dashboard starting September 2025. Credit course shells will now appear automatically on their Canvas Cloud Dashboard once assigned in goSFU/eTRACS — instructors don’t need to request one using the 'Start a New Course' tool. For details, see Changes to Credit Course Shell Creation.
BEFORE YOU MIGRATE
1) UNDERSTAND WHICH CONTENT CAN BE MIGRATED
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.
| Can Migrate |
Unable to Migrate |
|
Course Content
- Announcements
- Assignments, files, modules and pages
- Discussion topics
- Question banks and quizzes
- Rubrics
- Syllabus body
- Most course settings and LTIs
- Calendar events
|
Student work
- Assignment submissions
- Quiz submissions and results
- Discussion replies (discussion topics will migrate, but replies do not)
- Grades
Enrolment-related data
- Course users and roles
- Collaborations and sections
- Conferences
- Groups and group sets
Other
- Feature option settings
- LTI secrets and keys
- Location details on calendar events
|
REMINDER ABOUT PROFILE DATA
Profile data cannot be migrated automatically. If you wish to keep any profile data, you will need to manually re-add the profile data on Canvas Cloud. This includes: ePortfolio, biography, profile files, profile photo, inbox messages.
2) DETERMINE IF YOUR COURSE IS APPROPRIATE FOR MIGRATING
| Migrate to Canvas Cloud |
Do Not Migrate (Move or Forget) |
- Courses that contain content you wish to keep and reuse for a future iteration of the course
- Courses that are currently running and have an end date beyond January 2026
|
- Courses used only for storage, record keeping or backup
- Courses used for research or containing research data
- Courses that contain content you no longer need
- Sandbox and test courses
Tip: Use Microsoft 365 tools (OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams) for stronger file protection and recovery than Canvas.
|
NOTE: Provided above are some general guidelines. Instructors are the experts on what courses and course content they wish to maintain. If your course content is still needed and requires Canvas features, migrate the course to Canvas Cloud.
NON-ACADEMIC COURSE MIGRATION
If your course is non-academic (training, orientation, activity-type course), visit How to migrate a Non-Academic Course to help you better understand key considerations and potential impacts.
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. If you are teaching in Spring 2026, 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.
NOTES
- The course migration tool will remain available for the foreseeable future (until Canvas On-Premise has been completely deprecated).
- The course migration tool is accessible to any SFU user. However, courses will only appear in the tool if the user has an 'instructor' role to those courses.
- Recently created courses (or courses you've recently been given instructor role) may not appear immediately. Try selecting 'Refresh List' after a few minutes.
- When a course is migrated from Canvas On-Premise, it will remain as-is and continues to be accessible to you. 'Course migration' simply copies your course from Canvas On-Premise to Canvas Cloud using the built-in 'export' feature on Canvas.
- It is possible for a course can be migrated multiple times and by multiple people if a course has more than one instructor. 'Course migration' simply creates a copy and assigns the user who initiated the migration access to the copied course.
- This process bar should not take more than a few minutes to complete for smaller courses (less than 50 MB). Larger courses (over 500 MB) can possibly take 30 minutes or more during peak periods.
- For technical support, request a support ticket using Canvas - Request Help. (Select 'Migration' as the area of help)
NEXT STEPS
After you have migrated your course:
- 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.
- Copy or import the content from your migrated course to your official course shell. This allows you to adjust terms, dates and more on assignments and announcements.
- Instructors teaching in Spring 2026 can find their credit course shell on the Canvas Cloud Dashboard starting September 2025. Credit course shells will now appear automatically on their Canvas Cloud Dashboard once assigned in goSFU/eTRACS — instructors don’t need to request one using the 'Start a New Course' tool. For details, see Changes to Credit Course Shell Creation.
- 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.
- Learn more about feature differences between Canvas On-Premise and Canvas Cloud.
NON-ACADEMIC COURSE MIGRATION
If you're migrating a course that is non-academic (training, orientation, activity-type course), visit How to migrate a Non-Academic Course to help you better understand key considerations and potential impacts.
NEED ADDITIONAL SUPPORT?
For questions about Canvas migration:
For pedagogical or instructional design questions:
For additional assistance or technical support: