How to get Canvas into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook

Canvas can give you a calendar link (an iCal or “.ics” feed). Subscribe to it once and new games, moves and cancellations show up on their own.

Steps

Canvas (student account): Calendar → 'Calendar Feed' in the sidebar → copy the link.
Re-copy it after enrolling in new courses.

Good to know: The feed comes from the student's account.

Then add the link to your calendar

Google Calendar (on a computer): Other calendars → + → From URL → paste the link.
iPhone: Settings → Apps → Calendar → Calendar Accounts → Add Account → Other → Add Subscribed Calendar.
Outlook: Add calendar → Subscribe from web → paste the link.

One catch: Google Calendar only re-reads subscribed links every several hours, sometimes up to a day, so a last-minute time change can show up late.

Got more than one team or app?

Most families end up with Canvas plus a few others: another kid's team, a second sport, the school calendar. FamilyCal combines them into one calendar, free:

Paste each link once; FamilyCal recognises Canvas and the others.
One calendar per kid, color-coded, plus one for school days off.
Changes show up in minutes: FamilyCal writes straight into Google Calendar or Outlook instead of waiting for them to re-read a link.
Clean-up across every app: drop “[TBD]” from titles, hide a practice type your kid never goes to.
Ask Claude, ChatGPT or Alexa “what's on tomorrow?”, and paste a coach's email or flyer to add it.

Combine your calendars

Questions

Where is the Canvas calendar link?

Canvas (student account): Calendar → 'Calendar Feed' in the sidebar → copy the link. Re-copy it after enrolling in new courses.

Why don't Canvas changes show up right away in Google Calendar?

Google Calendar re-reads subscribed calendar links on its own schedule, every several hours and sometimes up to a day, and there's no button to make it refresh. FamilyCal can connect to Google Calendar or Outlook and write events straight in after every sync, so changes show up in minutes.

Can I combine Canvas with other teams and the school calendar?

Copy the calendar link from each app (see the guides), paste them into FamilyCal, and subscribe to or connect the combined calendar. Each kid gets their own color-coded calendar, plus one for school days off.