The Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan (The Archives) is responsible for providing records and information management services that assist government institutions in managing their records to ensure compliance with The Archives and Public Records Management Act. Records created by government institutions in Saskatchewan must be managed efficiently throughout their lifecycle.
The Archives is also responsible for acquiring and preserving records of significance to the history of the province. For more information about archival services please visit www.saskarchives.com.
Records and Information Management
Records and information management services include: assistance developing records retention schedules; managing ARMS2014; providing government-wide records management policies and procedures; records and information management advisory services; and overseeing the disposition of public records.
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As per The Archives and Public Records Management Act (APRMA), public records include all recorded information that relates to the transaction of government business, regardless of physical form. This includes records that are created, received, deposited or held by an office of the Government of Saskatchewan.
There are two types of public records that need to be managed by government institutions, administrative and operational. Administrative records pertain to routine activities carried out by an institution which do not relate to its mandate. Operational records relate to specific operations and services provided by an institution in carrying out the functions for which it is responsible.
Electronic records must be managed in the same manner as records in other formats. Electronic records that are subject to records management requirements include: email and other electronic messages; social media; websites; and records stored on cloud computing servers.
There are several ways to manage electronic records, including printing and filing, shared network drives and Electronic Document Records Management Systems. Electronic records must be retained and disposed of in accordance with an approved records schedule and they must be maintained in a manner which ensures their integrity and accessibility. For more information about the management of electronic records, please see the Electronic Records Guidelines and Email Management Guidelines.
Records classification and retention schedules, or records schedules, are information management tools that set the foundation for a successful records and information management program. A records schedule is an official policy document that arranges records based on business processes or functions, and indicates how long records must be retained to meet and organization’s business, financial and legal requirements.
There are three types of record classification schedules which assist in managing public records in Saskatchewan: administrative, operational and corporate-wide. All records schedules in Saskatchewan government must be approved by the Public Records Committee.
- Administrative - The Administrative Records Management System 2014 (ARMS2014) is a central tool, developed and maintained by the Archives, for use by government institutions to manage their administrative records. Administrative records pertain to routine activities carried out by an institution that do not relate to its mandate. ARMS2014 is designed to accommodate all administrative records created or received by government institutions. For more information about administrative records schedules please see ARMS2014.
- Operational - Operational records schedules (ORS) are developed by individual institutions with assistance from the PAS and are used to classify and manage operational records which are those records which relate to specific operations and services provided by an institution in carrying out the functions for which it is responsible. An ORS is unique and relevant only to the government institution which developed the system. For more information about operational records schedules please see the Records Schedule Development Guide.
- Corporate-wide - Most Crown Corporations develop a comprehensive, corporate-wide records schedule which is used to classify and manage both their administrative and operational records. These policies are developed on an institution-specific basis with assistance from the Archives. For more information about corporate-wide records schedules please see the Records Schedule Development Guide.
Government institutions are also responsible for developing and maintaining records and information management policies and procedures to assist in managing their records as required by The Archives and Public Records Management Act. These policies are developed on an institution-specific basis with assistance from the Archives. For more information please visit www.saskarchives.com/services-government.
All public records are subject to the disposition guidelines set out by the Archives. Disposition can refer to the destruction of records, as well as the appraisal of records and transfer to the Archives.
Government institutions are responsible for ensuring that their records are maintained in a manner consistent with the requirements of The Archives and Public Records Management Act. Official records, in all formats, must be retained by a government institution for the length of time designated by an approved record schedule including administrative, operational or corporate-wide records.
When records become inactive, meaning they are no longer required for day to day business purposes, they can be stored off-site at Government’s Records Centre or at a privately run facility (such as Crown Store-All) until they have met retention requirements as per an approved records schedule. Records cannot be stored at the Provincial Achieves of Saskatchewan. Records are only acquired by the Archives if they have been found to possess long-term historical significance which is determined when they are submitted for disposal. For information regarding records storage, please visit the Records Centre page.
Once the retention periods established in a schedule have been met, records may be disposed of according to the procedures set out by the Archives in the Saskatchewan Records Disposal System.