Transition FAQs

OWL Brightspace is Western’s new Learning Management System (LMS), serving as a central hub for managing and/or hosting content such as academic courses, prototype courses (e.g., sandboxes, reference courses, templates, etc.), training courses, and supplementary academic content.  All content is hosted as a ‘course’ in OWL Brightspace.   

If your content meets the eligibility requirements to be hosted in the LMS environment, you will be able to migrate your project site content to an OWL Brightspace course.  

Claiming your Sakai project site by July 30, 2025, gives you more time to learn about and trial alternative solutions through our resources and information sessions, and to transition your content before April 30, 2026. Early action helps WTS identify how project sites are being used so that WTS can help support you with appropriate, accessible, and secure solutions.  

Even if you’re not ready to move to an alternative solution this summer, claiming your site provides WTS with insight to support you better by identifying gaps in our current service catalogue and exploring new solutions to meet your needs in advance of April 30, 2026 when access to OWL Sakai will be removed.  

OWL Sakai will no longer be available after April 30, 2026.  New project sites should not be set up in OWL Sakai.  Please check the available alternative solutions for project sites and create your content in the tooling most appropriate for your use case. 

If you think your new content should be a course in OWL Brightspace, please confirm by checking the eligibility requirements. 

If eligible for Brightspace, instructions for requesting a new supplementary course in OWL Brightspace are available here. 

If you need a temporary project site in OWL Sakai because you have not transitioned eligible content to Brightspace yet, please contact the WTS Helpdesk to request one be set up.   

A Supplementary Course is a type of course in OWL Brightspace used to host and/or manage content such as prototype courses, training courses, shareable learning modules, and other supplementary academic content.  
 
These courses are not connected to the Office of the Registrar, so student data such as final grades and enrollments cannot be shared between the course and Student Centre. 

Learn more here.