DRAFT RETENTION GUIDELINES FOR COMMON
ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS

The draft Retention Guidelines for Common Administrative Records of the Government of Canada differ in a number of substantial ways from the interim guidelines published on the National Archive of Canada Web site in 2000.

1. Most significantly, the draft guidelines give two, simple, general rules for retention. These rules reduce by more than 75% the number of subject-based retention periods for records. The draft guidelines note only the exceptions to the general rules.

2. The draft guidelines present material in a manner consistent with the approved Multi-Institutional Disposition Authorities (MIDAs. This ordering facilitates and reinforces the application of the MIDAs for records management officials.

3. The draft guidelines incorporate recent changes to the Treasury Board Standards, as published in Info Source, and other policies and legislation that affect retention periods.

4. The concise draft guidelines are much easier to reference than the interim guidelines.

5. National Archives of Canada is producing training and communication material to introduce the new guidelines to records management officials.

Draft Record Retention Periods Covering Common Administrative Records in Support of the Human Resources Management Function

• PDF Format (46 KB)
• WordPerfect (90 KB)

Draft Record Retention Periods Guidance Covering Common Administrative Records in Support of the Comptrollership Function

• PDF Format (27 KB)
• WordPerfect (56 KB)

Draft Record Retention Period Guidelines Covering Common Administrative Records in Support of the General Administration Function

• PDF Format (23 KB)
• WordPerfect (48 KB)

Draft Record Retention Period Guidelines Covering Common Administrative Records in Support of the Materiel Management Function

• PDF Format (27 KB)
• WordPerfect (61 KB)

Draft Record Retention Period Guidelines Covering Common Administrative Records in Support of the Real Property Management Function

• PDF Format (29 KB)
• WordPerfect (57 KB)

June 18, 2003 - Presentation

• HTML (text version)
• PDF Format ( 3,992 KB)

To read the Adobe Acrobat file, you will need the free Acrobat Reader Software available from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

National Archives of Canada has drafted these guidelines for consultation with other Federal institutions.
Any comments/suggestions are welcome, and should be directed to:

Kerry Badgley
Government Records Branch
National Archives of Canada
Phone: 613-996-7734
Fax: 613-996-8982
E-mail: kerry.badgley@lac-bac.gc.ca