Photo: Contributed

Edward Snowden

The first online database of classified documents leaked by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has been created in Canada.

The Snowden Archive is a joint project between Canadian Journalists for Free Expression and the Politics of Surveillance Project at the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto.

It is the first time hundreds of leaked documents have been indexed and made fully searchable online.

CJFE says the archive is a resource for journalists, researchers and concerned citizens to learn more about government surveillance practices.

The database will be unveiled at Ryerson University in Toronto on Wednesday after a live video discussion with Snowden, followed by a panel discussion on the state of surveillance in Canada.

Snowden remains exiled in Russia since leaking the top secret NSA documents to journalists last year.

He has been charged under the U.S. Espionage Act and could face up to 30 years in prison.