We’re excited to announce that Section-Based Listings are now live in Canvas Catalog, giving administrators greater flexibility to control how listings map to Canvas sections based on their enrollment needs. This opt-in capability makes it easier to manage courses across multiple terms, audiences, or schedules while maintaining consistent learner progress tracking.
What’s New?
Section-Based Listings introduce new optional functionality for Catalog administrators:
- Multiple listings, one course – Create several Catalog listings that all point to a single Canvas course.
- Section-level enrollment control – Link each listing to a unique Canvas section to differentiate cohorts, schedules, or audiences.
- Improved admin visibility – View and manage listings with sortable, filterable Canvas Section IDs.
- Support for self-paced offerings – Sections without defined dates automatically function as self-paced experiences.
- Consistent progress tracking – Track learner progress at the course level, ensuring continuity across listings.
Together, these enhancements improve efficiency, support varied enrollment needs, and ensure consistent progress tracking.
Why We Built Section-Based Listings
Offering the same course across different terms or audiences has traditionally required duplicating Canvas courses, which creates extra administrative work and increases the risk of inconsistent content.
Section-Based Listings are designed to eliminate that friction by providing an optional alternative that allows admins to connect multiple Catalog listings to a single Canvas course, while still delivering seamless, tailored enrollment experiences.
This approach not only increases administrative efficiency, but also ensures accurate tracking for both courses and programs, regardless of how learners enroll.
Key Benefits
Increased efficiency and scalability
Reduce operational overhead while easily expanding course offerings across terms, cohorts, or schedules, all without duplicating content.
Accurate, consistent progress tracking
Deliver a seamless learner experience with reliable progress tracking across listings to improve course and program reporting.
Improved administrative visibility
Gain a clearer understanding of how listings align to sections, making it easier to manage enrollments and troubleshoot issues.
How to Enable
Section-Based Listings are now live for all Canvas Catalog customers through an opt-in setting at the Catalog listing level, which allows administrators to control how listings map to Canvas sections. To create multiple Catalog course listings that all reference the same Canvas course:
- Open the Listing editor for the listing you want to configure.
2. Enable Section-Based Listings by checking the “Use a specific section” box. Leaving the box unchecked allows enrollments from any section within the Canvas course.
3. Select a Canvas section from the dropdown menu. If no sections exist, a default section will be created when the listing is saved.
4. Save the listing to apply your configuration.
Once enabled, learner progress is tracked at the course level, ensuring consistency regardless of which listing a learner uses to enroll.
Learn More
For more information, read the full Release Notes:
Section-Based Listings
Listings: Use Specific Section Checkbox Option
