Hot Docs, the largest documentary festival in North America, has announced an online library with hundreds of Canadian films and videos available for free.

Hotdocslibrary.ca features full-length features by some of Canada's leading filmmakers including Jennifer Baichwal, Allan King, Jean-Daniel Lafond, Alan Zweig, Kevin McMahon, Shelley Saywell and Nettie Wild.

Organizers of Hot Docs, which is heading into its 17th year in Toronto this April, says it's the perfect way to allow anyone in the country to see the documentaries.

"Hot Docs at its core is all about the sharing of outstanding documentaries and stories with eager audiences," said Hot Docs managing director Brett Hendrie, in a statement on Wednesday.

"With new Doc Library we will be able to further this sharing while focusing in on stories that are uniquely Canadian, stories that are largely by Canadians for Canadians but are also relevant to the rest of the world. And we are able to share these remarkable stories with Canadians free of charge."

All the documentaries, close to 300 of them, are from directors who have had works screened at the festival and many of the titles themselves are films that have shown at the Festival or Doc Soup.

It also features short films that have been made by young people participating in the Hot Docs' DocCamp and DocIt! programs as well as a selection of titles from the National Film Board spanning the 1950s and 1960s.

Viewers will be able to comment and share playlists and link to filmmaker's websites.