AUTOMATIC

Credit course shells will automatically appear on the Canvas Dashboard for instructors one semester prior to the start of class.

For example, if an instructor is assigned to teach a course in Spring 2026, their course shell will be automatically be created and assigned to them at the beginning of September 2025.

BY REQUEST

The Start a New Course tool is available along with all of its features to create new course shells.

For departments who requested courses on behalf of instructors, they may continue to request course shells ahead of time to assist instructors. 

Course shells can be requested two semesters prior to the start of class.

See Creating a new course shell for detailed instructions.

CROSS-LISTING

Instructors will now need to contact IT Services to cross-list their course.

For each of the courses instructors wish to cross-list, have the courses on-hand or create them using the Start a New Course tool. Then, request IT Services to combine them by submitting a ticket to Canvas - Request Help.

See Creating a new course shell: cross listing for detailed instructions.

DETAILS ON AUTOMATIC COURSE SHELL CREATION

STUDENT ENROLMENT

When a credit course shell is created, students will be automatically added within 24 hours of creation.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Canvas Cloud automatically creates and assigns course shells to instructors based on goSFU as long as an instructor has been assigned to teach a course by departmental staff. This happens to courses one semester prior to the start of the course. The system runs this creation process for Canvas Cloud once a day and will also check if the assigned instructor is in the course shell.

WHEN NO INSTRUCTOR IS ASSIGNED 

If no specific instructor (or if a placeholder) has been assigned to a course on goSFU, the automatic course creation will not happen to those courses until one is assigned.

WHEN THE INSTRUCTOR CHANGES

Assuming that course shell has already been automatically created and a new instructor is assigned in goSFU, when the system finds that the user with the instructor role on the course shell is different from the assigned instructor on goSFU, the system will automatically add the new instructor. Any existing users with the instructor role in that course shell will not be removed when the instructor is assigned.

WHEN THE COURSE SHELL ALREADY EXISTS

If a course shell has already been requested (and created) via the Start a New Course tool, when the Automatic Course Shell Creation starts at the beginning of the semester, the system will look at goSFU data and check if the assigned instructor has already been added to the course shell. If the instructor is not in the course shell, the system will automatically add the instructor to the existing course shell and will appear on their dashboard. Any existing users with the instructor role in that course shell will not be removed when the instructor is assigned.