Quick emissions lesson. The canister is part of the evaporative emission control system. That has nothing to do with the tailpipe emissions. And it has to work all the time, 24/7. Evaporative emissions are gas fumes. Sometimes called unburnt hydrocarbons but usually that refers to the tiny amount of fuel that manages to make it the whole way through and out the tailpipe.
Other parts of the evap control include the gas cap, gas tank, purge selenoid, and some hoses. Back when your typical mechanic knew how to rebuild a carbuerator, the mfgs were adding charcoal canisters. At first the carb vent was the only source hooked up. Then the tank was,then the cap was changed from vented to semi-sealed pressure relief. The canister stored the fumes instead of letting them pollute the atmosphere. They had to go somewhere, the canister can only hold so much. That's the purpose of the purge selenoid. When the engine can handle a slighty rich mixture, the computer wil activate the purge slelnoid which allows the fumes to be sucked through a vacuum line from the canister.
So as you can see, the canister should not affect the drivability. It will not affect the tailpipe emissions. I'm not aware of any "emissions" test that will ID a missing or malfunctioning canister. Many states have a visual check for emissions devices, but they can be of various shapes, sizes, and locations. There cannot be a mechanic that knows where they and what they look like on all the vehicles out there. Some emissions checks will be failed if the inspector can smell gas, so I heard.