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Multi-Institutional Disposition Authorities (MIDA)

3.4 Appendix I  --  Terms and Conditions for the Disposition of Common Administrative Records in support of the Comptrollership Function of the Government of Canada

A. Key Definitions

Common Administrative Records
Records created, collected, or received by a federal government institution to support and document internal administrative functions and activities common to or shared by all federal government institutions (for example, materiel management and human resources management).

Operational Records
Records created, collected, or received by a federal government institution to support and document business functions, programmes, processes, transactions, services, and all other activities uniquely or specifically assigned to that particular institution by legislation, regulation, or policy.

Office of Primary Interest (OPI)
The federal government institution  --  department, agency, board, office or commission  --  to which authority, responsibility and accountability to perform a particular function on behalf of the Government of Canada has been specifically assigned by legislation, regulation, policy or mandate.

Comptrollership Function (of the Government of Canada)
Encompasses the functions, sub-functions, processes, activities, and transactions of administrative business concerning the management of financial resources commonly conducted in and across all federal government institutions to facilitate the application of operational policies and the delivery of programmes and services. The main legislation underpinning the Comptrollership Function includes the Financial Administration Act and the Auditor General Act. For the purposes of identifying and explaining records disposition requirements, the Comptrollership Function has been divided into the following three sub-functions:

• External Audit,
• Financial Management, and
• Program Management.

(For a more complete description of each sub-function, see the Functional Profile in Appendix II.)

B. Scope of the Authority

• Authority No. 99/004 applies to all common administrative records in support of the Comptrollership Function of the Government of Canada (i.e., records documenting common administrative business functions, sub-functions, programmes, transactions, and activities) regardless of how the records are organized or internally controlled within each institution. It entirely supersedes Schedule 4 (Finance) of the General Records Disposal Schedules (PAC 86/001), and covers many records related to Program Management not previously covered.

• Authority No. 99/004, including specific archival limitations and exclusions, applies to all institutions subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act, whether or not their Comptrollership Function activities are exempted from provisions of the Financial Administration Act, or from following Treasury Board or other central agency policies and guidelines governing Comptrollership activities. For example, some institutions may not be required to follow central agency policies concerning the Comptrollership Function, yet these institutions are subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act.

• Authority No. 99/004 applies to electronic records, databases, office systems - and any related technical documentation or contextual metadata information - created in support of the Comptrollership Function in all government institutions. This Authority does not apply, however, to electronic records, databases, or offices systems - or any related technical or contextual metadata information - created by government institutions in support of any function uniquely or specifically assigned to them by legislation, policy, or mandate within their operational context or as an Office of Primary Interest.

• The scope of Authority No. 99/004 covers all those subjects and records found in Schedule 4 of the GRDS (PAC 86/001). In this Authority, the Comptrollership Function has been divided into the following three sub-functions:

1. External Audit includes any independent examination and assessment exercised by a party external to the institution being audited, and one mandated to carry out such assessments of financial and program management defined by measurable results;

2. Financial Management includes financial reporting, classification of accounts, budgetary control, financial information systems, accounting and control of expenditures, accounting and control of revenue, accounting for assets and liabilities, accounting for special purpose funds, and revolving funds; and

3. Program Management includes expenditure management and supporting activities, capital plans and projects, agreements and arrangements with other levels of government, risk management, external user charges, alternative service delivery, and the review activities which incorporate both internal audit and program evaluation.

From this brief description of the Program Management sub-function, it is recognized that many records related to Program Management not previously covered in the older GRDS are now covered in Authority No. 99/004.

• Institutions which have specific operational mandates as Offices of Primary Interest (OPI) for aspects of the Comptrollership Function shall not apply Authority No. 99/004 to their operational records concerning those aspects of the Comptrollership Function. This restriction presently applies explicitly to the Treasury Board and its supporting Secretariat(s), the Department of Finance, the Privy Council Office, the Auditor General, and Public Works and Government Services Canada. These agencies can apply this authority only to their internal common administrative records. All government functions, subjects, record types, and records excluded from the scope of Authority No. 99/004 or any other Multi-Institutional Disposition Authority must be covered by Institution-Specific Disposition Authorities granted to individual federal institutions in the course of the Multi-Year Disposition Plan (MYDP).

• Authority No. 99/004 does not apply to record series or groupings or collections which mix common administrative and operational records.

• Authority No. 99/004 does not supersede other Authorities requiring the preservation of archival records. It should be applied after the Transitory Records Authority, any operational Records Disposition Authority relating to a specific institution (also referred to as an Institution-Specific Disposition Authority or ISDA), and any Multi-Institutional Disposition Authority (MIDA) for generic groups of records (such as posters, records from a minister's or deputy head's office, and records generated by imaging systems). Some operational records Authorities (for example, ISDAs) also include the disposition of some common administrative records. The Terms and Conditions for the application of these ISDAs remain in effect.

• It is incumbent upon each government institution to understand and apply generally any legislation concerning the retention and disclosure of information, and more specifically its extant legislation. Each government institution is required to determine appropriate retention periods for its records, including those common administrative records covered by Authority No. 99/004.

C. Authorization to Destroy and Exclusion

C.1 Authorization to Destroy

1.1 All records created, collected, or maintained in any medium by a federal institution in support of the Comptrollership Function of the Government of Canada may be destroyed provided that

• the records are not operational in nature;
• the records are not of a mixed operational and administrative character;
• the records do not support an administrative function in an Office of Primary Interest;
• the records are not otherwise excluded from the application of Authority No. 99/004 by virtue of the definitions and scope statement contained in this Appendix;
• the records are not anterior to 1946; and
• the retention periods of the records - established by the institution according to its legal and operational requirements - have expired.:

1.2 A strict application of the definitions and exclusions above, the eight (8) specific exclusions listed in section 2.1 below, and a prioritized use of various Records Disposition Authorities will ensure that there are no records of archival value amongst the remaining common administrative records in support of the Comptroller Function in institutions subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act.

C.2 Exclusions

2.1 The eight specific exclusions to the general authorization to destroy are as follows:

• external audits performed by outside consultants (internal audits);
• trust accounts related to mandated operational functions;
• major capital plans and projects (planning and executing only);
• payroll activity recorded on the employee personnel file;
• internal audit and program evaluation final report files within an individual institution as part of its Review activity;
• alternative service delivery;
• agreements with other levels of government, where the institution plays the role of Office of Primary Interest; and
• transfer payments, grants, and contributions.

2.2 Apart from the general authorization to destroy (C.1.1) and eight specific exclusions (C.2.1), records within the scope of Authority No. 99/004 may be destroyed without further consultation with Library and Archives Canada. Before disposing of any record related to these eight specific exclusions, consult the expanded description of the specific exclusion below.

C.3 External Audits

3.1 Where an audit is executed by a central agency, or by any audit service offered by a common service agency, the institutional files related to the audit may be disposed of under Authority No. 99/004.

3.2 Where an audit is conducted by private sector consultants hired by the individual institution the records cannot be disposed of using Authority No. 99/004. These records must be disposed of through an Institution-Specific Disposition Authority.

C.4 Trust Accounts

4.1 Trust accounts involving long-term or indeterminate fiduciary responsibilities which affect the rights or entitlements of citizens and which arise from the mandate of an institution; records documenting the policies applied to the administration of such accounts; the trust agreements; and the audited annual statements of such accounts are all excluded from the scope of Authority No. 99/004 and must be disposed of through an Institution-Specific Disposition Authority.

4.2 The restriction in section 4.1 above does not apply to the disposition of interim financial statements and accounting documentation such as original receipts, vouchers, or ledgers for any trust account, nor does the restriction apply to short-term trust accounts that arise from the administration of contracts related to administrative activities of an institution or the pay or other financial aspects of Human Resources Management Function.

C.5 Capital Plans and Projects

5.1 Records related to contracts and contracting activities may be disposed of under Authority No. 99/004, unless they relate to the planning and executing of major capital plans and projects. Records documenting the policy development, planning, and evaluation of such plans and projects are excluded from the scope of Authority No. 99/004, and should be disposed of through an Institution-Specific Disposition Authority. For the purposes of this Authority, any capital plan and project with a budget equal to or greater than $10 million is deemed to be a major capital plan and project.

C.6 Payroll

6.1 Payroll is largely administered as part of the Human Resources Management Function and portions of the payroll records such as pay transactions on the personnel employee file are excluded from the scope of Authority No. 99/004, and must be disposed of under Authority No. 98/005.

6.2 Payroll records (such as pay lists or payroll registers) which feed into financial administrative systems, including the central accounts and pay system administered by Public Works and Government Services, are disposed of under Authority No. 99/004.

C.7 Internal Audit and Program Evaluation  --  Review Activity

7.1 Within an individual institution, the review activity includes internal audit and program evaluation performed by review officers and not operational managers. Final internal audit and program evaluation reports together with files documenting management response, corrective action, and follow-up, are excluded from the scope of Authority No. 99/004 and must be disposed of through an Institution-Specific Disposition Authority.

7.2 Internal audit and program evaluation records and working files documenting methodology, procedures, interdependent liaison, and interaction with central agencies are disposed of under Authority 99/004.

C.8 Alternative Service Delivery

8.1 Alternative service delivery is primarily a program management support activity related to mandated operational functions. Records of this activity which document operational policy, policy development, planning, and program assessment are excluded from the scope of Authority No. 99/004. However, all alternative service delivery records which document common administrative functions may be disposed of under Authority No. 99/004.

C.9 Agreements with other levels of government

9.1 Where an institution acts as an Office of Primary Interest, records documenting agreements with other levels of government are excluded from the scope of Authority No. 99/004. Such records must be disposed of through an Institution-Specific Disposition Authority.

C.10 Transfer Payments, Grants and Contributions

10.1 Records documenting the mandated operational functions of individual institutions which administer transfer payments, grants, and contributions (conditional grants) are excluded from the scope of Authority No. 99/004. Such records must be disposed of through an Institution-Specific Disposition Authority.

10.2 Records documenting only the financial transactions related to transfer payments, accounting and control of expenditures and/or revenues, payment verification, budgeting and budgetary control of programs, transfer payments, grants and contributions, are considered to be common administrative records, and may be disposed of under Authority No. 99/004.

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