About the program

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What is web archiving?

Web archiving is an international, digital preservation and curation-based discipline that acquires web resources and data published on the Internet. It ensures the data is selected, curated, and digitally preserved, and makes the resources available for future consultation and research.

The Web and Social Media Preservation Program conducts LAC’s web archiving. The Library and Archives of Canada Act allows it to preserve Canadian web resources for posterity and future research.

LAC’s program started in 2005. Preserving online or Internet resources of interest to Canada is part of LAC's legislated mandate. The program follows the best practices set out by:

LAC is an active member of the IIPC and DPC and frequently collaborates with other memory institutions.

Web archiving does not refer to:

  • Government of Canada information management
  • recordkeeping
  • the collection of archival records

Archival records cannot be found or consulted within this resource. To consult archival records, please refer to Collection Search.

Purpose of the GCWA

The Internet is the largest and fastest-growing contemporary cultural text. It captures social actions and interactions. It provides more up-to-date information about the world than any traditional media source. Web resources are unique digital documentary heritage that may not be duplicated in any other medium. This makes digital preservation of web resources via web archiving essential to the continuity of the nation’s memory, culture, and history.

The Web and Social Media Preservation Program at LAC acquires and preserves Canadian web resources for posterity and future research, per the Library and Archives of Canada Act section 8 (2).

What the GCWA contains

The Government of Canada Web Archive provides access to:

  • Historical official publications, statistics and data of the Government of Canada
  • Federal government web content dating back to 2005
  • Resources that are no longer available on the Internet
  • Curated and thematic research and data collections
  • Full-text search functionality

LAC collects other federal organization’s web resources. This does not absolve the organization of the responsibility to steward their Web per their internal information management and recordkeeping policies. It also does not constitute the transfer or collection of official digital archival records.

Future access to more collections

Starting in early 2023, LAC will begin providing access to additional curated and thematic research and data collections, for example:

  • Federal Elections since 2005
  • Summer and Winter Olympics and Paralympics since 2005
  • Canadian commemorative events since 2005
  • Canadian historical events and incidents since 2013

Preserved copies versus live versions

Web resources constantly evolve and their content can change radically over time. Digital preservation copies of web resources available via the Government of Canada Web Archive therefore reflect how a given resource was published at the specific moment in time it was acquired by LAC. Often, many different versions of the same web resource collected over years are present in the GCWA.

To clearly mark copies of web resources as being digital preservation copies and not copies from the “live web”, LAC shall provide an overlaid toolbar at the top of each resource that clearly indicates it has been collected by LAC with a timestamp and date of collection. This will prevent it from being misunderstood as a the current or “live” copy.