shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Bac-lac (Library and Archives Canada catalogue)?

Free national catalogue of Canada's library and archival collections - bac-lac.on.worldcat.org

Depends. This is the free Government of Canada catalogue for Canadian archival, library, and genealogical records — ideal if you research Canadian history or need federal documents. There is nothing to buy; skip it if you need non-Canadian material or expected a software product.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~25 public sources. Not commercial software: a free Government of Canada catalogue hosted on WorldCat, so no vendor pricing, reviews, or enterprise customers apply.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo evidence in sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Public access

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Canadian genealogy research
  • Historians and academics
  • Citizenship and immigration record requests
  • Documentary heritage volunteers

Not for

  • Anyone shopping for software — this is not a purchasable product
  • Researchers needing non-Canadian records
  • People wanting instant certified documents — requests take processing
  • Teams comparing SaaS tools — wrong category entirely

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Reproduction services (photos, prints, photocopies) charge per-order fees — check prices before ordering

medium

Many records are offline; expect an order-and-wait workflow for archival material

medium

Certified copies need a formal request process, not instant download

low

Occasional outages and 403 errors can block research sessions

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free access to Canada's national library and archives collections
  • Listed among free Canadian genealogy resources
  • Co-Lab crowdsources transcription of digitized heritage records
  • Collection search covers archives, library, and government records
  • Digitized theses and evaluations downloadable as PDFs

Cons

  • Users report the site going down
  • Some visitors cannot access the site at all
  • Search endpoints sometimes return 403 forbidden errors
  • Not everything digitized; physical records require ordering

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/21/2026 - 12 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x4review x5security x2news x1

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Entirely free public service
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Users report access errors and confusing ordering
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Vast collections, digitized theses, crowdsourced transcription
  • Support quality. No evidence in sources
  • Security posture: 4/5. No public vulnerabilities; government-run
  • Free Cost Government of Canada public service
  • Yes Free tier Catalogue search and digitized content
  • WorldCat Discovery Platform Hosted by OCLC for LAC

Pricing

Public access

Free

  • Collection and archive search
  • Digitized documents and theses
  • Co-Lab transcription participation

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Genealogists and citizenship applicants praise the depth of Canadian records but report occasional access outages and a confusing ordering process.

“Archives of Canada are amazing”
Reddit, r/Canadiancitizenship
“Can't access Library & Archives Canada”
Reddit, r/Genealogy
“Need certified record from Library and Archives Canada”
Reddit, r/Genealogy
Full analysis

Based on ~25 public sources. Not commercial software: a free Government of Canada catalogue hosted on WorldCat, so no vendor pricing, reviews, or enterprise customers apply.

Free Government of Canada catalogue for Canadian records. Great for genealogy and research — not software you buy.

Methodology

Based on ~25 public sources. Not commercial software: a free Government of Canada catalogue hosted on WorldCat, so no vendor pricing, reviews, or enterprise customers apply.

Sources

  1. Bienvenue au site Web Bibliothèque et Archives Canadalac-bac.gc.ca
    official
  2. About Co-Labcolab.bac-lac.gc.ca
    official
  3. Collection search: Basicrecherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca
    official
  4. Ordering copies onlinecanada.ca
    official
  5. Library and Archives Canada (BAC-LAC) - OnGenealogyongenealogy.com
    review
  6. Is Bac-lac.gc.ca down? Live statusdownforeveryoneorjustme.com
    news
  7. Archives of Canada are amazingreddit.com
    review
  8. Can't access Library & Archives Canadareddit.com
    review
  9. Need certified record from Library and Archives Canadareddit.com
    review
  10. G2G: 403 - Forbidden at Library and Archives Canada searchwikitree.com
    review
  11. transfert-transfer.bac-lac.gc.ca scam or legit checkscamadviser.com
    security
  12. Product security pagebac-lac.on.worldcat.org
    security

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