Extend a Course or Assignment End Date

This is a common Canvas constraint: assignment due dates cannot extend past the course term end date. This article will provide step-by-step instructions to resolve this issue.

Assignment due dates cannot extend past the Course End Date; therefore, to extend an assignment, exam, etc., the instructor (or someone with admin privileges) needs to adjust the course or term date settings, (not just the assignment), as follows:

Option 1: Edit the Course End Date

1. Go to Settings (in the course).
2. Stay on the Course Details tab.
3. Look for Participation.
4. If it's set to “Term,” change it to Course.
5. Enter a new End Date at least one day after the desired due date of the assignment. (e.g., If the new due date for the final exam is May 10, extend the course End Date to May 11th or later).
6. Click Update Course Details.

After that, you can go back to the exam and set the due date to the desired due date.

 

Option 2: Use “Available Until” instead (temporary work around)

If changing the term isn’t possible:

1. Keep the original due date
2. Set “Available Until” to new due date

(Example: if the original due date of the assignment is May 7th and you need to extend the due date to May 10th, change the "Available Until" date to May 10th) 

Note:

• This allows submissions late
• But Canvas will mark them late unless you also:
  • Adjust late policies, or
  • Add individual student extensions in the “Assign To” section

 

Best Practice

The cleanest fix is Option 1 (change course participation dates), because:

• It avoids late flags
• It keeps grading clean
• It fully reopens the exam window