In Canvas, the Admin role is the administrator role. Users assigned the Admin role oversee and manage an institution's Canvas account or a Canvas sub-account within an institution. Admin permissions allow users to manage terms, create courses, view and moderate enrollments and content for all courses within an account, and view course and account data data. Additionally, Admins can direct communication within an account and its courses. Account-level permissions vary for sub-accounts and from institution to institution. For more information about account-level permissions, view the Canvas Account Permissions PDF.
Only Admins may manage account-level permissions. Other Canvas user roles exist, each with varying levels of Canvas access. Teachers oversee Teacher Assistants, and together they create course content with which Students and Observers engage. For more information about course-level user permissions, view the Canvas Course Permissions PDF.
Currently Canvas does not support a specific mobile app for the Admin role. However, an administrator may log in to any of the Canvas mobile apps and act as any user in the account. Admins with teacher or student roles can also view courses through the appropriate mobile app.
The main uses of the Admin role are to allow a user to create and moderate terms, upload and manage SIS data, manage account- and course-level features, and manage course-level user roles and permissions. Depending upon the institution, Admins may also access and manage Canvas courses with permissions similar to those of the Teacher role.
Administrators may be added to an account or to a subaccount with specific account-level permissions configured to best fit their roles. For example, an academic advisor may be added to a Canvas subaccount with access to view SIS, account, and course data and with restricted access to courses and course content.
In general, Admin permissions and account configurations reflect an institution’s structure. Administrative user roles and permissions may be configured to meet the needs of an institution’s administrative needs. A user can only be added as an Admin to an account by another administrator.
An institution may modify admin permissions based on user roles. To learn more about Admin participation in Canvas, view the Canvas Administrator Guide.
Admins can:
The following permissions never apply to subaccounts:
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