Hi @DanielleReysen,

Aside from Pages, which @JackieStoss gave ex axplanation for, I think you're going to find that publishing is mostly a manual action.  With that being said, most things in Canvas have availability dates in addition to being published, so often teachers will publish things ahead of time but restrict the student view of items with availability dates (especially in assignments, quizzes, and discussions).

I hope this info helps!

-Chris