Canvas LMS integration

At a glance

Who uses it: Administrators connecting AmplifyED to a Canvas instance.
When to use it: Once during onboarding; revisit if Canvas credentials change or you switch developer keys.
Permissions required: Administrator at the school or district level, plus Canvas admin access to create a developer key.
Navigation path: Administration → Integrations → Canvas.

Purpose

The Canvas integration syncs rosters and course data into AmplifyED so student profiles, teacher assignments, and class context appear automatically — no nightly CSV upload required.

What syncs

Students (with their Canvas user IDs).
Teachers and their courses.
Course enrollments (which students are in which class with which teacher).

What does not sync

Grades, assignments, or submissions.
Canvas messages or announcements.
Anything outside the rostering surface.

Before you begin

You will need to create a Canvas developer key for AmplifyED. Have your Canvas admin credentials ready.
Confirm your Canvas instance URL (e.g. district.instructure.com).
Decide on Auto-create mode: should new students in Canvas automatically appear in AmplifyED, or should an admin approve them first?

Step-by-step

Administration → Integrations → Canvas → Connect.
Paste your Canvas instance URL.
Click Authorize. A Canvas OAuth window opens; sign in as an admin and approve the developer key scopes.
Pick which schools / sub-accounts to sync.
Choose Auto-create students on or off.
Click Save. The first sync runs immediately; subsequent syncs run on a schedule.

[SCREENSHOT: admin-canvas-connect-oauth] Administration → Integrations → Canvas connect screen with the OAuth Authorize button highlighted.

Trigger a manual sync

Open Administration → Integrations → Canvas → Sync now. The current run progress is shown live; previous runs appear in the history list.

Disconnect

Click Disconnect. The Canvas tokens are revoked on our side and previously synced records remain in AmplifyED for the record.

Tips & best practices

Run the first sync on a small sub-account before pointing at the whole district.
Leave Auto-create off during the first week so you can see what would land before opting in.
Pair Canvas sync with SSO so teacher accounts auto-provision in both systems.

Common mistakes

Using a personal Canvas token instead of a developer key — tokens tied to one person break when that person leaves.
Enabling Auto-create alongside a CSV import — you end up with duplicates.

FAQ

How often does Canvas sync? Hourly by default, with on-demand manual sync available.

Is the Canvas access token encrypted? Yes — tokens are encrypted at rest using application-level encryption in addition to database-level encryption.