Setting up Assignments & Late Policy in Canvas

Here’s a step-by-step guide for creating due dates for assignments on Canvas, including setting up a 2% late deduction per day.

IMPORTANT: If your course has been copied over from a prior semester, be sure to adjust all of the course due dates immediately. When this step is missed, the dates from the previous semester get integrated into the students calendar and cause a lot of confusion.

Set a Due Date and Manage Availability

  1. If you already created the assignment/quiz: By the specific assignment, select the “Edit” option on the right of the assignment.

  1. If you are currently working on the assignment/quiz: You will already be on the edit page.

  2. At the bottom of the Edit page, navigate to the Assign option and select “Manage Due Dates and Assign To”


  1. Under “Assign to”, select “Everyone” or specific sections if needed.

  2. Set the Due Date.

  3. Set “Available from” and “Until” dates to control when students can view and submit the assignment. If you would like to keep the assignment open past the due date you will need to set up a late penalty (see below).

  4. Optionally, you can click the “Add” button to create exceptions for individual students. This allows you to assign different due dates and availability dates to specific students or groups.

  5. Then, click “Save” to save the changes.


Set Up a 2% Late Deduction (as Per Sara Schenirer’s Policy)

  1. In the Gradebook, navigate to the setting wheel on the top right.

  1. In the settings, navigate to “Late Policies”.

    • Choose “% per day”.

    • Enter “2” in the deduction field.

  2. Then, select “Apply Settings” to save the changes.


Back to portal