diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 042a5bc4d65ce..c6710aa036596 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -604,10 +604,20 @@ workflows:
     when: << pipeline.parameters.prerelease_commit_sha >>
     jobs:
       - publish_prerelease:
-          name: Publish to Next channel
+          name: Publish to Canary channel
           commit_sha: << pipeline.parameters.prerelease_commit_sha >>
           release_channel: stable
-          dist_tag: "next"
+          # The tags to use when publishing canaries. The main one we should
+          # always include is "canary" but we can use multiple (e.g. alpha,
+          # beta, rc). To declare multiple, use a comma-separated string, like
+          # this:
+          #   dist_tag: "canary,alpha,beta,rc"
+          #
+          # TODO: We currently tag canaries with "next" in addition to "canary"
+          # because this used to be called the "next" channel and some
+          # downstream consumers might still expect that tag. We can remove this
+          # after some time has elapsed and the change has been communicated.
+          dist_tag: "canary,next"
       - publish_prerelease:
           name: Publish to Experimental channel
           requires:
@@ -615,7 +625,7 @@ workflows:
             # will sometimes fail if you try to concurrently publish two
             # different versions of the same package, even if they use different
             # dist tags.
-            - Publish to Next channel
+            - Publish to Canary channel
           commit_sha: << pipeline.parameters.prerelease_commit_sha >>
           release_channel: experimental
           dist_tag: experimental
@@ -633,7 +643,7 @@ workflows:
                 - main
     jobs:
       - publish_prerelease:
-          name: Publish to Next channel
+          name: Publish to Canary channel
           commit_sha: << pipeline.git.revision >>
           release_channel: stable
           dist_tag: "next"
@@ -644,7 +654,7 @@ workflows:
             # will sometimes fail if you try to concurrently publish two
             # different versions of the same package, even if they use different
             # dist tags.
-            - Publish to Next channel
+            - Publish to Canary channel
           commit_sha: << pipeline.git.revision >>
           release_channel: experimental
           dist_tag: experimental
diff --git a/ReactVersions.js b/ReactVersions.js
index 789068abeb899..c59e772e5cfca 100644
--- a/ReactVersions.js
+++ b/ReactVersions.js
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@
 //
 // The @latest channel uses the version as-is, e.g.:
 //
-//   18.0.0
+//   18.3.0
 //
-// The @next channel appends additional information, with the scheme
+// The @canary channel appends additional information, with the scheme
 // <version>-<label>-<commit_sha>, e.g.:
 //
-//   18.0.0-alpha-a1c2d3e4
+//   18.3.0-canary-a1c2d3e4
 //
 // The @experimental channel doesn't include a version, only a date and a sha, e.g.:
 //
@@ -20,9 +20,13 @@
 
 const ReactVersion = '18.3.0';
 
-// The label used by the @next channel. Represents the upcoming release's
-// stability. Could be "alpha", "beta", "rc", etc.
-const nextChannelLabel = 'next';
+// The label used by the @canary channel. Represents the upcoming release's
+// stability. Most of the time, this will be "canary", but we may temporarily
+// choose to change it to "alpha", "beta", "rc", etc.
+//
+// It only affects the label used in the version string. To customize the
+// npm dist tags used during publish, refer to .circleci/config.yml.
+const canaryChannelLabel = 'canary';
 
 const stablePackages = {
   'eslint-plugin-react-hooks': '5.0.0',
@@ -40,14 +44,14 @@ const stablePackages = {
   scheduler: '0.24.0',
 };
 
-// These packages do not exist in the @next or @latest channel, only
+// These packages do not exist in the @canary or @latest channel, only
 // @experimental. We don't use semver, just the commit sha, so this is just a
 // list of package names instead of a map.
 const experimentalPackages = [];
 
 module.exports = {
   ReactVersion,
-  nextChannelLabel,
+  canaryChannelLabel,
   stablePackages,
   experimentalPackages,
 };
diff --git a/fixtures/devtools/regression/canary.html b/fixtures/devtools/regression/canary.html
index 88cadef4ccaf6..4d96aae0855a5 100644
--- a/fixtures/devtools/regression/canary.html
+++ b/fixtures/devtools/regression/canary.html
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
     <script src="https://unpkg.com/scheduler@canary/umd/scheduler-tracing.development.js"></script>
     <script src="https://unpkg.com/react@canary/umd/react.development.js"></script>
     <script src="https://unpkg.com/react-dom@canary/umd/react-dom.development.js"></script>
-    <script src="https://unpkg.com/react-cache@next/umd/react-cache.development.js"></script>
-    
+    <script src="https://unpkg.com/react-cache@canary/umd/react-cache.development.js"></script>
+
     <!-- Don't use this in production: -->
     <script src="https://unpkg.com/babel-standalone@6/babel.min.js"></script>
   </head>
@@ -38,4 +38,4 @@
       Learn more at https://reactjs.org/docs/getting-started.html
     -->
   </body>
-</html>
\ No newline at end of file
+</html>
diff --git a/fixtures/devtools/regression/next.html b/fixtures/devtools/regression/next.html
index 4ac0751a0c22d..1dd291446c6db 100644
--- a/fixtures/devtools/regression/next.html
+++ b/fixtures/devtools/regression/next.html
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@
       __REACT_DEVTOOLS_GLOBAL_HOOK__ = parent.__REACT_DEVTOOLS_GLOBAL_HOOK__;
     </script>
 
-    <script src="https://unpkg.com/scheduler@next/umd/scheduler.development.js"></script>
-    <script src="https://unpkg.com/scheduler@next/umd/scheduler-tracing.development.js"></script>
-    <script src="https://unpkg.com/react@next/umd/react.development.js"></script>
-    <script src="https://unpkg.com/react-dom@next/umd/react-dom.development.js"></script>
-    <script src="https://unpkg.com/react-cache@next/umd/react-cache.development.js"></script>
-    
+    <script src="https://unpkg.com/scheduler@canary/umd/scheduler.development.js"></script>
+    <script src="https://unpkg.com/scheduler@canary/umd/scheduler-tracing.development.js"></script>
+    <script src="https://unpkg.com/react@canary/umd/react.development.js"></script>
+    <script src="https://unpkg.com/react-dom@canary/umd/react-dom.development.js"></script>
+    <script src="https://unpkg.com/react-cache@canary/umd/react-cache.development.js"></script>
+
     <!-- Don't use this in production: -->
     <script src="https://unpkg.com/babel-standalone@6/babel.min.js"></script>
   </head>
@@ -38,4 +38,4 @@
       Learn more at https://reactjs.org/docs/getting-started.html
     -->
   </body>
-</html>
\ No newline at end of file
+</html>
diff --git a/scripts/release/prepare-release-from-npm-commands/get-latest-next-version.js b/scripts/release/prepare-release-from-npm-commands/get-latest-next-version.js
index c19a50fd93d6b..f40730d119aed 100644
--- a/scripts/release/prepare-release-from-npm-commands/get-latest-next-version.js
+++ b/scripts/release/prepare-release-from-npm-commands/get-latest-next-version.js
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@
 const {execRead, logPromise} = require('../utils');
 
 const run = async () => {
-  const version = await execRead('npm info react@next version');
+  const version = await execRead('npm info react@canary version');
 
   return version;
 };
 
 module.exports = async params => {
-  return logPromise(run(params), 'Determining latest "next" release version');
+  return logPromise(run(params), 'Determining latest "canary" release version');
 };
diff --git a/scripts/rollup/build-all-release-channels.js b/scripts/rollup/build-all-release-channels.js
index b4bc0d5d8f789..25f2652ecf562 100644
--- a/scripts/rollup/build-all-release-channels.js
+++ b/scripts/rollup/build-all-release-channels.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ const {
   ReactVersion,
   stablePackages,
   experimentalPackages,
-  nextChannelLabel,
+  canaryChannelLabel,
 } = require('../../ReactVersions');
 
 // Runs the build script for both stable and experimental release channels,
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ function processStable(buildDir) {
       const version = stablePackages[moduleName];
       versionsMap.set(
         moduleName,
-        version + '-' + nextChannelLabel + '-' + sha + '-' + dateString,
+        version + '-' + canaryChannelLabel + '-' + sha + '-' + dateString,
         defaultVersionIfNotFound
       );
     }
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ function processStable(buildDir) {
     fs.renameSync(buildDir + '/node_modules', buildDir + '/oss-stable');
     updatePlaceholderReactVersionInCompiledArtifacts(
       buildDir + '/oss-stable',
-      ReactVersion + '-' + nextChannelLabel + '-' + sha + '-' + dateString
+      ReactVersion + '-' + canaryChannelLabel + '-' + sha + '-' + dateString
     );
 
     // Now do the semver ones
@@ -191,16 +191,16 @@ function processStable(buildDir) {
       reactNativeBuildDir,
       ReactVersion +
         '-' +
-        nextChannelLabel +
+        canaryChannelLabel +
         '-' +
         hash.digest('hex').slice(0, 8)
     );
   }
 
-  // Update remaining placeholders with next channel version
+  // Update remaining placeholders with canary channel version
   updatePlaceholderReactVersionInCompiledArtifacts(
     buildDir,
-    ReactVersion + '-' + nextChannelLabel + '-' + sha + '-' + dateString
+    ReactVersion + '-' + canaryChannelLabel + '-' + sha + '-' + dateString
   );
 
   if (fs.existsSync(buildDir + '/sizes')) {
@@ -251,10 +251,10 @@ function processExperimental(buildDir, version) {
     );
   }
 
-  // Update remaining placeholders with next channel version
+  // Update remaining placeholders with canary channel version
   updatePlaceholderReactVersionInCompiledArtifacts(
     buildDir,
-    ReactVersion + '-' + nextChannelLabel + '-' + sha + '-' + dateString
+    ReactVersion + '-' + canaryChannelLabel + '-' + sha + '-' + dateString
   );
 
   if (fs.existsSync(buildDir + '/sizes')) {