Records Management Regulation

(Consolidated up to 142/2025) ALBERTA REGULATION 224/2001 Government Organization Act RECORDS MANAGEMENT REGULATION Table of Contents 1 Interpretation 2 Alberta Records Management Committee 3 Chair, vice-chair and secretary 4 Records management program 5 Evaluation of program 6 Approval of records retention and disposition schedules 7 Advice to the Minister 8 Archival appraisal 9 Departmental responsibility 10 Records retention and disposition schedule 11 Destruction of records 12 Repeal 13 Expiry Interpretation 1 (1) In this Regulation, (a) “Committee” means the Alberta Records Management Committee established under section 2(1); (b) “department” has the meaning given to it in section 14 of Schedule 11 to the Government Organization Act ; (c) “deputy head”, in respect of a department, means (i) the chief officer of the department, or (ii) if there is more than one chief officer of the department, the chief officer of that part of the department for which he or she is responsible; (d) “Minister” means the Minister of Technology and Innovation; (e) “record” has the meaning given to it in the Access to Information Act ; (f) “Schedule” means the Schedule to the Designation of Public Bodies Regulation under the Access to Information Act . (2) For the purposes of this Regulation, an agency, board, commission, corporation, office or other body listed in the Schedule is considered to be a department. AR 224/2001 s1;251/2001;35/2007;186/2008;216/2022; 127/2023;142/2025 Alberta Records Management Committee 2 (1) There is established the Alberta Records Management Committee consisting of the persons appointed as members under subsection (3). (2) On the request of the Minister, nominations must be made in accordance with the following and submitted to the Minister: (a) 5 people must be nominated by the Department of Technology and Innovation; (b) one person must be nominated by the Provincial Archives of Alberta; (c) one person must be nominated by the Department of Justice; (d) one person must be nominated by the Department of Treasury Board and Finance; (e) repealed AR 68/2008 s17; (f) repealed AR 9/2006 s2. (3) The Minister may appoint as members of the Committee (a) the persons nominated in accordance with subsection (2), and (b) any other persons the Minister considers appropriate. (4) A person nominated under subsection (2)(c) may in writing designate an employee of the Government who is under the administration of the Minister of Justice to attend and act on behalf of the person at one or more meetings of the Committee. AR 224/2001 s2;9/2006;35/2007;68/2008;31/2012;170/2012; 62/2013;216/2022;127/2023 Chair, vice‑chair and secretary 3 The Minister must designate a chair, vice-chair and secretary for the Committee from the persons nominated under section 2(2)(a). AR 224/2001 s3;9/2006 Records management program 4 (1) The Minister is responsible for establishing a records management program. (2) For the purpose of providing the details for the operation of the records management program, the Minister may establish, maintain and promote policies, standards and procedures for the creation, handling, control, organization, retention, maintenance, security, preservation, disposition, alienation and destruction of records in the custody or under the control of departments and for their transfer to the Provincial Archives of Alberta. Evaluation of program 5 The Committee may evaluate the implementation of the records management program in each department. Approval of records retention and disposition schedules 6 (1) A records retention and disposition schedule and any subsequent amendment to it must be approved by the Committee before it is implemented in the department. (1.1) The Committee or the secretary of the Committee on the Committee’s behalf may set an expiry date for and approve amendments to a records retention and disposition schedule and, where it is no longer required, cancel a records retention and disposition schedule. (1.2) Notwithstanding subsection (1.1), the secretary of the Committee may not approve an amendment of the type described in section 10(2)(b) or (e) to an approved records retention and disposition schedule of a department. (2) The Committee may approve records retention and disposition schedules submitted by the secretary of the Committee that are to apply to all departments. AR 224/2001 s6;9/2006 Advice to the Minister 7 The Committee may provide advice to the Minister relating to the policies, standards and procedures referred to in section 4(2). Archival appraisal 8 The member of the Committee referred to in section 2(2)(b) (a) must provide an archival appraisal of each records retention and disposition schedule submitted by a department, and (b) may provide advice on archival concerns. Departmental responsibility 9 The deputy head of a department must ensure that records in the custody or under the control of the department are managed in accordance with the policies, standards and procedures established under section 4(2). Records retention and disposition schedule 10 (1) The deputy head of a department must ensure that the department prepares records retention and disposition schedules for all records under the control of the department. (2) The records retention and disposition schedule must (a) describe the records under the control of the department, (b) specify how long the department must keep the records, (c) specify where the records must be kept, (d) specify the format in which records must be stored, and (e) describe what the final disposition of the records will be. (3) Repealed AR 9/2006 s5. (4) Records may be disposed of only in accordance with the approved records retention and disposition schedule. AR 224/2001 s10;9/2006 Destruction of records 11 The deputy head of a department must ensure that records are destroyed only in accordance with policies established under section 4(2). Repeal 12 The Records Management Regulation (AR 57/95) is repealed. Expiry 13 For the purpose of ensuring that this Regulation is reviewed for ongoing relevancy and necessity, with the option that it may be repassed in its present or an amended form following a review, this Regulation expires on March 31, 2028. AR 224/2001 s13;9/2006;33/2016;35/2017;34/2018;185/2022