The aim of this paper is to introduce the WIRCam Ultra Deep Survey (WUDS), a near-IR photometric survey carried out at the CFH Telescope in the field of the CFHTLS-D3 field (Groth Strip). WUDS includes four near-IR bands (Y, J, H and Ks) over a field of view of ~400arcmin^2^. The typical depth of WUDS data reaches between ~26.8 in Y and J, and ~26 in H and Ks (AB, 3{sigma} in 1.3" aperture), whereas the corresponding depth of the CFHTLS-D3 images in this region ranges between 28.6 and 29 in ugr, 28.2 in i and 27.1 in z (same S/N and aperture). The area and depth of this survey were specifically tailored to set strong constraints on the cosmic star formation rate and the luminosity function brighter or around L in the z~6-10 redshift domain, although these data are also useful for a variety of extragalactic projects. This first paper is intended to present the properties of the public WUDS survey in details: catalog building, completeness and depth, number counts, photometric redshifts, and global properties of the galaxy population. We have also concentrated on the selection and characterization of galaxy samples at z~[4.5-7] in this field. For these purposes, we include an adjacent shallower area of ~1260arcmin^2^ in this region, extracted from the WIRCam Deep Survey (WIRDS), and observed in J, H and Ks bands. UV luminosity functions were derived at z~5 and z~6 taking advantage from the fact that WUDS covers a particularly interesting regime at intermediate luminosities, which allows a combined determination of M and {PHI} with increased accuracy. Our results on the luminosity function are consistent with a small evolution of both M and {PHI} between z=5 and z=6, irrespective of the method used to derive them, either photometric redshifts applied to blindly-selected dropout samples or the classical Lyman Break Galaxy color-preselected samples. Our results lend support to higher {PHI} determinations at z=6 than usually reported. The selection and combined analysis of different galaxy samples at z>=7 will be presented in a forthcoming paper, as well as the evolution of the UV luminosity function between z~4.5 and 9. WUDS is intended to provide a robust database in the near-IR for the selection of targets for detailed spectroscopic studies, in particular for the EMIR/GTC GOYA Survey.

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/hk-zcat (HK z-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/refyjcat (WUDS Reference catalog Y+J)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/list (List of fits images)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/hk-jcat (HK J-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/hk-hcat (HK H-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/hk-kscat (HK Ks-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/hk-ycat (HK Y-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/hk-ucat (HK u-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/hk-gcat (HK g-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/hk-rcat (HK r-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/hk-icat (HK i-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/iz-jcat (IZ J-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/iz-hcat (IZ H-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/iz-kscat (IZ Ks-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/iz-ycat (IZ Y-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/iz-ucat (IZ u-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/iz-gcat (IZ g-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/iz-rcat (IZ r-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/iz-icat (IZ i-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/yj-rcat (YJ r-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/yj-icat (YJ i-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/yj-zcat (YJ z-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/iz-zcat (IZ z-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/yj-ycat (YJ Y-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/yj-ucat (YJ u-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/refhkcat (WUDS Reference catalog H+K)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/yj-gcat (YJ g-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/yj-hcat (YJ H-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/yj-jcat (YJ J-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/yj-kscat (YJ Ks-band catalog)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/620/A51/refizcat (WUDS Reference catalog i+z)