Updated: Advancing Canvas Credentials: The Path from LTI 1.1 to LTI 1.3

DoraJekkel
Instructure
Instructure
5
2529

Canvas.png

Dear Canvas Credentials Community,

As we continue to enhance Canvas Credentials, we want to share a timely update. While we had originally planned to begin automatic upgrades from LTI 1.1 to LTI 1.3 earlier, we’ve heard your feedback—particularly about concerns with changes too close to the start of the academic semester.

With that in mind, we’ve decided to postpone the automatic upgrade and will now begin the rollout on May 12. This delay allows institutions more breathing room and ensures we deliver a smooth, well-supported transition.

📌 If you’d like to revisit the original announcement of this upgrade and our planned approach, you can find it here.

Update on Timing (Added May 15)

The LTI 1.3 upgrade process started on Monday (May 12) as planned, and many customers have already been successfully updated. Since this transition requires several manual steps across environments, the rollout is progressing gradually.

We’re currently targeting the end of next week (May 23) to complete all upgrades. However, due to the manual nature of the work, the exact timeline may vary slightly by Institution. We’ll continue to keep you informed and are doing everything we can to ensure the update is as quick and seamless as possible.

Why LTI 1.3?

This upgrade represents a major improvement in both functionality and security:

  • Enhanced Security: Stronger authentication protocols and better protection for user data.

  • Improved Performance: Faster response times, especially during high-traffic periods.

  • Streamlined Workflows: Cleaner badge management and credentialing tools.

What’s Changing, and What to Expect

  • Automatic LTI 1.3 Integration Creation
    We'll automatically create an LTI 1.3 integration labeled "Credentials" in the Canvas course navigation, replacing the older “Badges” label. We’ve also put protections in place to avoid duplication of badge awards—a prior concern for some users.
  • LTI 1.1 Will Be Hidden—but Not Gone
    To ensure continuity, we’ll temporarily hide the LTI 1.1 integration rather than remove it outright. It will serve as a fallback during the transition.
  • Internal Testing and Validation
    Before we remove LTI 1.1 completely, we’ll run thorough internal QA on LTI 1.3 installations to confirm badge workflows, permissions, and performance are working as expected.
  • Gradual Retirement of LTI 1.1
    Once testing confirms everything is working well, we’ll start gradually removing LTI 1.1.
  • No More New LTI 1.1 Integrations
    As of the transition, creating new LTI 1.1 connections will be disabled. Everyone moves forward with LTI 1.3.

Self-Hosted Canvas? Action Required

For institutions running self-hosted Canvas instances, additional steps are required. You will need to:

  1. Add the LTI 1.3 Developer Key in your Canvas instance.

  2. Email your Client ID to csky-badgr-support@instructure.com so we can finish the setup on our side.

Need help? Our support team is here for you.

When Is This Happening?

  • Automatic upgrades will begin May 12th.

  • We'll upgrade courses gradually, with notices placed in LTI 1.1 courses to keep admins informed.

  • If you’d prefer to upgrade manually, you’re welcome to do so anytime before the automatic process begins.

We Hear You

We know timing matters—especially during semester startup. That’s why we delayed. We’ve also preserved visibility settings and default behaviors from LTI 1.1, including the ability to hide the integration in course navigation.

Your feedback has helped us improve this transition, and we’re grateful.

Thank you for your continued trust in Canvas Credentials. We’re excited to move forward with you—on your timeline.

– The Canvas Credentials Team

5 Comments
jsowalsk
Community Champion

@DoraJekkel I dont see this change. Did this happen?

DoraJekkel
Instructure
Instructure
Author

Hi @jsowalsk 

We have started the update on Monday, but it is an ongoing process. Therefore we are not done with all the updates, if you don't see it yet, it means, your integrations will be updated in the upcoming days. 

Dora

jsowalsk
Community Champion

@DoraJekkel How will be able to tell the difference between Badges and Credentials? We need to pull some data on this.

mzimmerman
Community Coach
Community Coach

@jsowalsk 

The update just occurred on our instance, and the most obvious change is that a new "Credentials" course navigation link will appear in the courses, while any previous "Badges" links will be disabled/hidden.  

The integration is still pointing to the same Canvas Credentials system, though, so the badges themselves should not be any different.

jsowalsk
Community Champion

@mzimmerman I see that, and I see in the course settings that if there was a Badgr Free in the course, there will now be Badgr and the Badgr free, but I wish instead of going to the course settings, there was another way to know who is using the free version. The Analytics Hub/LTI Usage data doesn't provide this information, only the courses and subaccounts that are using credentials.