My Thoughts on Canva Create 2026.

Just when I thought I'd caught up with, and tested, the new features from last year, this week’s Canva Create 2026 keynote drops and provides another massive leap forward. As an avid Canva user (and full disclosure, a Canvassador), I’m constantly trying to push the limits and discover the platform's capabilities in the classroom.

I'm trying to look at these updates as objectively as possible, and honestly, this feels like a direct response to the exact features our community has been wishing for. The keynote focused heavily on fixing the broken, fragmented process of creation by turning Canva AI into an orchestra of tools that work seamlessly together.

Standout Updates

Brand Intelligence and Brand Templates

This is the most exciting one in my eyes, especially for keeping my resources consistent. Canva AI now features Brand Intelligence, meaning it can automatically apply your brand to anything you create. You just pick a Brand Template, and Canva AI instantly generates your design on brand from the very first draft.

I use Brand Kits all the time to make my teacher slides and worksheets, so consistency with AI is a huge workflow win. Even better, with Affinity now part of the Canva family, designers have access to a suite of powerful design tools for free. I used Affinity before it was part of the Canva brand and it seems to only have got better since the acquisition. You can now craft assets in Affinity and move them seamlessly into Canva to be used in designs.

Layered Object Intelligence

This feels like a massive development. Thanks to the in-house Canva Design Model, Canva AI generates fully layered designs, rather than flat images. This means everything you generate is completely editable. Combined with Conversational Design, you can design through a simple conversation and chat back and forth with the AI to refine your ideas rather than relying on a blank page or a template.

Canva Connectors and Sheets

The possibilities have now truly opened up for managing live data. Canva AI Connectors allow you to hook up the apps you use every day, like Slack, Gmail, Google Drive, or your Calendar. Canva AI can sweep through these apps to pull context and populate documents for you, saving hours of work.

We also saw examples of forms collecting responses directly in Canva Sheets, which I am incredibly excited to use for pupil tracking and live classroom data.

Canva Code 2.0

From my previous posts, it is clear that I love pushing the limits of Canva Code for gamified activities. Today, they took it further with HTML and Code import and editing. HTML has become the format for AI-generated web-apps and content, but editing it usually means regenerating everything from scratch.

Now, you don't need a full rebuild just to update a button. You can bring any HTML or code file into Canva, where it becomes instantly editable in their drag-and-drop editor. This means Canva Code 2.0 can generate web apps and widgets where you can easily change titles, tweak colours, or edit text directly on the canvas without needing to regenerate the underlying code. You can create interactive countdowns, games, or polls from scratch and include them right inside your designs. A part four of my Canva Code adventures is definitely in order!

Learn Grid and Canva Offline

Not features that I knew I needed, but incredibly welcome additions for educators. Learn Grid is a new all-in-one destination for learning content. It features a library of thousands of ready-to-teach resources that are mapped to the curriculum you teach. You can mix and match your year group and subject to generate unique worksheets and games.

Plus, they launched Canva Offline. With one click, you can make any design available offline, keep editing without an internet signal, and have it sync and save your offline changes instantly when you are back online.

The Adobe Killer?

This leads me perfectly to what I am most excited about learning next: the expanding professional ecosystem. I grew up using Adobe. At my school, we currently use Adobe. However, last week's announcements has me seriously wondering if Canva is becoming the true replacement for these premium, subscription-based tools.

With Affinity now fully integrated, professional designers have access to a suite of incredibly powerful design tools completely for free. You can craft your assets with absolute precision in Affinity, and then move them seamlessly into Canva. From there, you can set up brand templates for the entire department or school to use, so your craft stays consistent as you scale.

Add to this the recent news of Canva acquiring Cavalry, a professional 2D animation and motion graphics tool. Having a complete professional workflow that covers photo, vector, layout, and now motion editing, all under one roof, makes it very hard to justify expensive monthly subscriptions elsewhere.

Conclusion

Overall, these updates position Canva as much more than just a design tool. With Agentic Orchestration allowing the AI to take actions on your behalf, it's becoming a true creative partner. Canva is seriously levelling up, and I can't wait to get stuck in and see what's possible!