YouTube videos in Canvas will display ads starting September 2025

We wanted to let you know about a change coming to YouTube videos in Canvas that might affect your courses.

Starting September 22, 2025, YouTube has decided that any videos you’ve embedded in Canvas – whether they’re already there or ones you add later – may start showing ads. Unfortunately, this is completely out of our hands. YouTube will place these ads randomly, and neither we nor Instructure (Canvas) can control what ads appear or when.

We know how important video content is for your teaching, so we wanted to mention Panopto as an alternative. It’s our supported video platform here, and the big advantage is that it’s completely ad-free for students – plus you have much more control over the viewing experience.

Feel free to reach out if you have questions about the change or need help with video alternatives.