On April 23rd, 2026, ITS sent the following email:
You are receiving this email to inform you of upcoming changes to the course retention policy within onQ and actions you need to take. As of September 1, 2026, courses in onQ that were completed two to five years ago will be archived for up to an additional three years. Courses in onQ that were completed more than five years ago will be deleted unless subject to a hold.
Hello,
Queen's University is committed to ensuring that our learning platforms remain reliable, sustainable, and fully compliant with the legal and privacy requirements outlined in Queen's Records Retention Schedule - OP9200 Academic Course Administration. As part of this commitment, Queen's will introduce the Queen's Course Archive service, powered by K16 Solutions, beginning September 1, 2026.
What is Changing?
Beginning on September 1, 2026, completed course offerings* in OnQ will be transitioned and retained in line with Queen's University record retention schedules as follows:
- Completed courses that have been in onQ for two to five years will be moved to Queen's Course Archive.
- Instructors can request read-only access to Queen's Course Archive to view migrated materials for accreditation, compliance, etc.
- Instructors can request read-only course restoration to onQ to create a new course.
- Completed courses that have been in onQ for more than five years will be deleted (unless subject to a hold) and will not be recoverable.
- Instructors can request an archived course to be placed on hold for a specified period of time.
Ongoing after September 1, 2026:
- Courses will remain available in OnQ for the first two years after completion.
- After two years, courses will automatically be moved to Queen's Course Archive for an additional three years.
- When the course is more than five years old, it will be permanently deleted (unless subject to a hold).
*The age of a course is determined by the formal end date of the semester it was taught in.
Hold Requests
If course content is required beyond the deletion date due to audit, legal requests, or academic integrity investigations, a hold can be requested to extend the archiving period.
Hold requests must be submitted before the five-year retention period expires. If no hold request is submitted, courses older than five years will be permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.
What You Need To Do:
- Identify any courses older than 5 years that must not be deleted due to legal, audit, or academic integrity investigation requirements before August 20, 2026.
- Submit a hold request for any courses identified in step one by filling out a service request form by August 20, 2026.
- Visit the Queen's Course Archive service page to learn more about the course archiving process.
Need Help?
Please reach out to the IT Support Centre by filling out an Online Help Form or by calling (613) 533-6666 during regular business hours.