Retention and Disposition Schedule at ESDC – PLACER Project

The PLACER project is a direct response to the lack of retention and disposition rules for information within ESDC. The Departmental Record Keeping Project (DRKP) was a first initiative launched in 2015 but was much too detailed and meticulous to be successful and would have taken about 20 years to complete. The Innovation, Information and Technology Branch (IITB) ultimately decided to shift their approach in order to achieve better and faster results that are more suited towards ESDC's needs.

Objectives :

• Determine the Archival Value of ESDC's information
• Establish retention schedules for the entire department

Principles and Methodology:

• AGILE approach
• Enterprise approach (standardization)
• Simplified retention schedules

Authority for archival evaluation and determination of retention schedules:

ESDC has full authority regarding non-archival information and has the responsibility to determine the retention periods for the entirety of the department's information. In terms of information with archival value, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has full authority on determining what is archival in nature and ESDC acts as a partner only.

Project started in December 2020 and concluded in the summer of 2021.

Results :

• Confirmation that our methodology developed in the previous phases works
• Retention schedules approved for all of Labour Program's active programs (for the Program Management function)
• Formulated lessons learned for the next steps of the PLACER Project

Information is a strategic asset within the government, and it is important to efficiently manage it. The retention schedule is an essential tool for information management within an organization.

This instrument establishes the length of time information created or captured is retained for before the department disposes of it (destruction or transfer to LAC).

The content of the retention schedule is based on the following needs:

• Operational
• Legal / Regulatory
• Financial
• Contractual
• For Privacy Reasons
• Other needs

The Guide for Archival Assessment and Retention of Information (GAARI) is the retention schedule created as part of the PLACER project to simplify the presentation and understanding of retention periods.

The GAARI identifies:

• The archival status of the information
• The retention periods related to the department's activities

For regular retention and disposition enquiries, the GAARI should answer 80% of your questions. This version includes:

• Functions
• Sub-functions
• Activities
• Retention schedule authority level
• Archival status
• Retention periods and associated triggers

The GAARI extended is available to answer your more in-depth questions.

The GAARI extended is a more detailed version of the GAARI and offers definitions for the functions, sub-functions and activities. It contains more information about the retention schedule authority and provides more information regarding archival documents / what has to be transferred to LAC. The GAARI extended includes a separate retention schedule for each function of ESDC and an extra tab for the individual programs of the department. It contains:

• Functions
• Sub-functions
• Activities
• Retention schedule authority level and the associated branch
• Archival status and the identification of the archival content
• Retention schedules and the retention trigger

Following the success of the pilot project, the next step will be to establish a retention schedule for the entirety of ESDC. IM leads from the various branches and regions will be consulted to establish priorities.

The PLACER Project is set to conclude by March 2023.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your branch or region's IM lead or IM broker.