Institutional Records in the Office of a Minister (96/021)

The National Archivist of Canada, pursuant to subsections 5(1) and 6(1) of the National Archives of Canada Act, is of the opinion that all records in all media (including paper, electronic, photographic, cartographic, documentary art, and video records) under the control of an institution in the Office of a Minister are of historic or archival importance and are required to be transferred to the care and control of the National Archives of Canada in accordance with the appended terms and conditions, with the exception of "general correspondence" series, including enquiries from the public or mass writing campaigns lobbying for or against an issue, and pro forma responses to same, wherever said collections might be housed.

Appendix - Terms and Conditions for the Transfer of Archival Records from among the Institutional Records in the Office of a Minister

A. Scope of the authority

Records Disposition Authority No. 96/021 applies to records under the control of an institution in the Office of the Minister (institutional records) that are maintained in a distinct record-keeping system or series related to that Office. It shall not be applied to Cabinet documents, the Minister's personal and political records, ministerial records, or scattered ministerial correspondence on various policy and subject files under the control of the institution.

B. Identifying the archival records

Records Disposition Authority No. 96/021 must be applied within the following sequence.

Throughout the sequence of application below, the Records Disposal Authority for the Destruction of Transitory Records is applied to those records which meet the criteria for being transitory.

1. Apply any operational Records Disposition Authority (also referred to as an "Institution-Specific Disposition Authority or ISDA") to the records. Segregate the records identified as archival by the authority from those without archival value.
2. Apply Records Disposition Authority No. 96/021 to the institutional records that are created or acquired by the Minister as part of directing and controlling the operations of the government institution for which he or she is responsible. Segregate the records identified by this authority as archival from those without archival value.
3. Apply any generic Multi-Institutional Disposition Authority (e.g., MIDA 96/022, 96/023, and 96/024), followed by any common administrative MIDA to the records. Note: records documenting the required direction, control, intervention, or signature of the Minister while fulfilling the responsibilities of the Office of the Minister are not considered common administrative in nature and are excluded from the common administrative MIDAs. Segregate the records identified by the authorities as archival from those without archival value.

C. Organizing the archival records for transfer

• Segregate the archival records by medium and box separately. Ensure that the context of special media (i.e., audio and video tapes, photographs, works of art) is preserved through appropriate documentation and labelling. Special care should be taken when boxing items framed in glass.
• Provide appropriate finding aids in electronic format for each medium of record. For example, for textual paper files consult the document "Guidelines for the Transfer of Textual Archival Records to the National Archives of Canada" available through LAC website at the services to government web-page. All other transfers must be accompanied by whatever other finding aids exist, including, but not limited to, index cards, microfiche, or electronic tracking systems.
• The transfer of archival records in electronic format, including physical and logical formats, and supporting metadata, shall be mutually determined by the Office of the Minister and LAC before the transfer can take place.
• Transfer the archival records to Library and Archives Canada five years after the Minister leaves office.

D. Access to and care of transferred records

Access to and care of the records transferred to Library and Archives Canada will be governed by the Access to Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Treasury Board Security Policy, and the policies and procedures of Library and Archives Canada governing the use of records by the public and departmental officials.

E. Further information

For further information relating to these terms and conditions for the transfer of archival records of any medium (including, but not limited to, technical considerations), contact Library and Archives Canada.