Government

Main Table of Contents

Multi-Institutional Disposition Authorities (MIDA)

3.2 Appendix I - Terms and Conditions for the Disposition of Common Administrative Records in support of the Real Property Management Function of Institutions subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act

A.  Key Definitions

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

Operational Records - Records created, collected, or received by an 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 - The federal government institution - department, agency, board, office, or commission - to which the 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.

Office of Collateral Interest - The federal government institution - department, agency, board, office, or commission which is implicated in or associated with the performance of, or some aspect of, a function, the management of a program, or the delivery of a service for the Government of Canada by virtue of legislation, regulation, policy or mandate.

Real Property Management Function - Encompasses the functions, sub-functions, processes, activities, and transactions of administrative business, concerning the management of federal real property or other real property used or acquired by an institution, commonly conducted in and across all government institutions to support and facilitate the delivery of programmes and services. The main legislation underpinning the Real Property Management Function includes the: Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, Federal Real Property Act, Department of Canadian Heritage Act, National Capital Act, Financial Administration Act, Historic Sites and Monuments Act, Natural Resources Act, and Expropriations Act.

For the purpose of identifying and explaining records disposition requirements, the Real Property Management Function as set out in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's real property policies can be applied conceptually to any government institution and is divided into five sub-functions related to the life-cycle management of real property immovable assets. A detailed description of each sub-function is contained in Appendix II, Profile of the Real Property Management Function. The five sub-functions (in bold type) are:

1. assessing and planning real property requirements,
2. acquiring real property assets and related services,
3. operating and using real property,
4. maintaining real property assets, and
5. replacing, transferring and disposing of real property assets.

B.  Scope of the Authority

• Authority No. 2001/002 applies to all common administrative records in support of the Real Property Management Function of institutions subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act (i.e., records documenting common administrative business functions, sub-functions, programmes, activities, and transactions), regardless of how the records are organized or internally controlled within each institution. It entirely supersedes Schedule 2 - Buildings and Properties of the GRDS (PAC 86/001).

• Authority No. 2001/002 applies to all institutions subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act, whether or not their Real Property Management functional activities follow Treasury Board or other central agency policies and guidelines. For example, some institutions, like Crown corporations, may not be required to follow central agency policies concerning the Real Property Management Function, yet these institutions are subject to the Act.

• Authority No. 2001/002 applies to electronic records, databases, and office systems  - and any related technical documentation or contextual metadata information - created in support of the Real Property Management Function in all government institutions. However, this Authority does not apply to electronic records, databases, or office 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 or Office of Collateral Interest.

• The scope of Authority No. 2001/002 has the same coverage over activities related to common or general purpose real property accommodations as that under Schedule 2 - Buildings and Properties of the GRDS (PAC 86/001), and includes common administrative activities related to real property environmental interests. A number of elements and categories of subjects, record types, and records may have been covered formerly under the "Consult the Public Archives," "Submit for retention and disposal authority when obsolete," or "Transfer to the Public Archives of Canada," clauses in Schedule 2. These have now been excluded wherever they potentially involve disposition decisions for records which are created, collected or received by the institution to support and document policies, programmes, and services related to its operations, and are thus operational in nature. The subjects and records descriptions contained in Schedule 2 of the GRDS (PAC 86/001) under these clauses, and excluded from Authority No. 2001/002, will be appraised separately within their institution-specific or operational functional context. Specifically excluded from this Authority are records relating to the management of any real property, including: national parks, national historic sites, historic canals, national battlefields, national conservation areas, heritage railway stations, federal heritage buildings, and monuments, designated or recognized by the Minister of Canadian Heritage as heritage property having national or historical significance, as these are by definition not common or administrative in nature.

• Institutions with specific operational mandates as Offices of Primary Interest (OPI) or Offices of Collateral Interest (OCI) for aspects of the Real Property Management Function shall not apply Authority No. 2001/002 to their operational records regarding those aspects of the Real Property Management Function. If, for any reason, an institution subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act creates, collects, or receives Real Property Management functional records that are not common or administrative, the institution must seek a separate authority to dispose of such operational records. All government functions, subjects, record types, and records excluded from the scope of Authority No. 2001/002, or any other Multi-Institutional Disposition Authority, must be covered by Authorities granted to individual institutions in the course of a Multi-Year [Records] Disposition Plan. For example, Authority No. 2001/002 does not apply to the operational records of OPI institutions which have been assigned legislative mandates in the government-wide function of Real Property Management (for instance the: Department of Justice Canada, Environment Canada, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, Department of Canadian Heritage, Parks Canada Agency, Health Canada, Human Resources Development Canada, National Capital Commission, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat as central agents of the government). Nor does Authority No. 2001/002 apply to the operational records of OCI institutions (for instance the: Department of National Defence, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Department of Transport, Canada Port Authorities, Federal Bridge Corporation Limited, National Battlefields Commission, Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, and Canada Lands Company Limited), and other Crown Corporations, Agencies, Commissions, or Boards as part of their specific legislative or policy mandates. This condition applies whether or not the institution uses the mandatory or optional real property common services of an Office of Primary Interest such as Public Works and Government Services or the Department of Justice Canada.

• Authority No. 2001/002 does not apply to records series or groupings or collections which mix common administrative and operational records.

• Authority No. 2001/002 does not supersede other Records Disposition Authorities requiring the preservation of archival records. It should be applied after the Transitory Records Authority, any operational Records Disposition Authority (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 institution to understand and apply generally any legislation regarding the retention and disclosure of information and more specifically its own extant legislation. Each government institution is therefore required to determine the appropriate retention periods for its records, including those common administrative records covered by Authority No. 2001/002.

C.  Authorization to Destroy Records

All records created, collected, or maintained in any medium by an institution in support of the Real Property Management Function 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. 2001/002 by virtue of the definitions and scope statements 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.

A strict application of the above definitions and exclusions, and the prioritized use of the various Records Disposition Authorities will ensure that there are no records of archival value amongst the remaining common administrative records in support of the Real Property Management Function in institutions subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act.

Main Table of Contents