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Region of Queens Municipality
Operational Policy No. 98 - Records Management
__________________________________________________________
TITLE
This Policy may be cited as the "Records Management Policy".
AUTHORITY
The Municipal Government Act, section 34 (1-4), allows Council to adopt
a policy for the management and destruction of records.
PURPOSE
1.
To establish effective management control and administration over
the receipt, creation, use, maintenance, storage, and ultimate
disposition of all information, regardless of format, and to do so in a
manner that is user-friendly and tailored to meet user needs.
2.
To support compliance with the Municipal Government Act (MGA)
and other Provincial Acts and Regulations.
3.
To designate responsibilities and accountability for the
management of municipal information, regardless of format.
4.
Ensure records management functions are incorporated into
existing and future information technology applications.
5.
Reduce response burden on the public by eliminating unnecessary
collection of information, and to ensure the collection of any
personal information is in accordance with the MGA.
6.
Ensure all information resources, regardless of format, are subject to
timely public access according to the provisions and limitations of
the MGA.
INTERPRETATION
In this Policy:
1. "Council" means the council of Region of Queens Municipality;
2. "Designated Officer" means the person designated and authorized by
the Chief Administrative Officer of the Municipality, to act on behalf of
the Municipality to manage and maintain the Records Management
System;
3. "Electronic document / electronic record" is described as data that is
recorded or stored on any medium in or by a computer system or other
similar device and that can be read or interpreted by a person or a
computer system on other similar devices and includes a display, print
out or other output of that data, other than a printout And further
refers to documents or records that have been created, used and
stored in digital medium, using computer hardware and software as
well as human intelligence to create, modify, store, access and
retrieve the documents. Hard copies can also be converted into
digital records by scanning;
4. "Manual" means the Nova Scotia Association of Municipal
Administrators Records Management Manual, third edition, as
amended from time to time;
5. "Municipality" means Region of Queens Municipality;
6. "Original record(s)" includes an electronic document/electronic
record, and paper copy of a record;
7. "Record(s)" include books, documents, electronic
documents/electronic records, maps, drawings, photographs, letters,
vouchers, papers and any other thing on which information is recorded
or stored by graphic, electronic, mechanical or other means, and may
include data within a computer program or any other data created by
a mechanism that produces records;
8. "Records Management System" means an electronic or paper-based
system used by the Municipality to manage the records of the
Municipality from record creation through to records disposal.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ESTABLISHED
The Records Management System as shown in the Manual by the Nova Scotia
Association of Municipal Administrators is established and authorized for use by
the Municipality.
COMPLIANCE WITH RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
All records and electronic documents in the custody and control of the
Municipality are the property of the Municipality and the records must comply
with the Records Management System, Manual and this Policy and may
constitute as original records.
DESIGNATED OFFICER
The Designated Officer is responsible for the management and maintenance of
the Records Management System. The Designated Officer may also develop
administrative policies and procedures so as to manage and maintain an
effective and efficient system (i.e. coding/numbering of policies, title formatting
for ease of retrieval, etc).
ADOPTION OF THE MANUAL
Records of the Municipality must be created, accessed, maintained and
disposed of only as provided by the Manual. The Manual includes a Records
Retention Schedule that prescribes the period of time that records are kept to
meet the operational, legal, regulatory, financial or other requirements of the
Municipality. The Records Retention Schedule also provides instructions as to the
manner and time of the disposition of a record.
INTEGRITY AND AUTHENTICITY MAINTAINED
The Records Management System must maintain the integrity and authenticity
of records made or kept in the usual and ordinary course of business.
AUTHORIZATION TO AMEND MANUAL
The Designated Officer is authorized to amend the Manual for particular use by
the Municipality.
DISPOSAL BY DESIGNATED OFFICER
1.
When the Designated Officers determine that the retention
period for a given record described in the Records Retention
Schedule has ended, the Designated Officer may allow the
record to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of in accordance
with the instructions outlined in the Records Retention Schedule
and in consultation with stakeholders within the organization as
detailed below:
a) The destruction actions must always be authorized,
allowing for a record destruction to be stopped if specific
issues such as a government investigation, audit, freedom
of information access request, litigation or legal claim
require the record to be kept. A records destruction
approval form as created and approved by the
Designated Officer will be used for all records to be
destroyed;
b) Records pertaining to any actual or pending government
investigation, audit, freedom of information access
request, litigation or legal claim will not be destroyed. Such
record will be held until the action is complete and then
kept in accordance with the Manual;
c) Records destruction should be undertaken in a manner
that preserves the confidentiality of records, including the
privacy of information about individuals;
d) All copies of records that are authorized for destruction,
including security, preservation and backup copies, should
be destroyed as soon as reasonably possible;
e) Destruction of paper records may occur on-site or off-site,
with services provided by a shredding and/or recycling
company;
f)
Destruction of electronic records stored in a repository will
be presented in a report and deleted;
g) A record of destruction will be permanently kept stating
the records destroyed, date of destruction and if available
a certificate of destruction from the service provider.
2.
Records that are required by any enactment to be kept, and all
minutes, bylaws, policies, and resolutions of Council will not be
destroyed.
VERSION LOG
Version
Number
Amendment
Description
Amendment/Policy
Owner
Approved
By
Approval
Date
1.0
Creation of Policy
Municipal Clerk
Council
OFFICIAL CERTIFICATION
THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT this policy was passed by the Council of Region of
Queens Municipality at a duly constituted meeting of said Council held on
the 28th day of October, 2025.
SIGNED by the Mayor and Municipal Clerk this 29th day of October, 2025.
_______________________________________
Mayor
________________________________________
Municipal Clerk
2025-10-28