The Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan (PAS) provides records and information management (RIM) services to the Government of Saskatchewan as per The Archives and Public Records Management Act (APRMA), including:
By offering these services, the PAS promotes and facilitates effective records management practices that support accountability, transparency and efficiency across government.
Public Records
As per the 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 or received 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 administrative activities carried out by an institution which do not relate to the institution’s mandate. Operational records pertain to operations and services that an institution is responsible for as part of its mandate.
Records Schedules and RIM Policies
Records classification and retention schedules, or records schedules, are information management tools that set the foundation for a successful RIM program. A records schedule is an official policy that arranges records based on business processes or functions and indicates how long records must be retained to meet an institution’s business, financial and legal requirements.
There are three types of records schedules which assist in managing public records in Saskatchewan: administrative, operational and corporate-wide (comprehensive). All records schedules in Saskatchewan Government must be approved by the Public Records Committee.
- Administrative - The Administrative Records Management System 2014 (ARMS2014) is a standard developed and maintained by the PAS, for use by government institutions to manage their common administrative records. ARMS2014 is designed to accommodate administrative records created or received by most government institutions. For more information please see ARMS2014.
- Operational - Operational records systems (ORS) are developed by individual institutions with assistance from the PAS and are used to classify and manage operational records. ORS is a companion system to ARMS, but it 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 – Crown Corporations develop comprehensive, corporate-wide records schedules which are used to classify and manage both their administrative and operational records. These schedules are developed with assistance from the PAS. For more information about corporate-wide records schedules please see the Records Schedule Development Guide.
Government institutions are also responsible for developing and maintaining internal RIM policies and procedures to manage their records as required by the APRMA. These policies are developed on an institution-specific basis. PAS reviews these policies upon request by institutions.
Records Retention and Disposal
All public records require the approval of the Provincial Archivist for their disposal. To obtain approval, government institutions must follow the disposal guidelines set out by the PAS. Disposal can refer to destruction of records or transfer of records to the PAS for permanent preservation.
Public records, in all formats, must be retained by a government institution for the length of time designated by the applicable approved records schedule before they can be disposed. When records become inactive, meaning they are no longer required for day-to-day business purposes, they can be stored off-site at a records center until they have met retention requirements.
The PAS is not a records storage facility, and records are only acquired by the PAS if they possess long-term historical significance which is determined when they are submitted for disposal. For information regarding Government records storage, please visit the Records Centre page.
For more information about the PAS disposal guidelines see Saskatchewan Records Disposal System.
Managing Electronic Records
Electronic public records are subject to the same RIM requirements as public records in other formats. Electronic records include, but are not limited to email and other electronic messages, social media posts and comments, website content and records stored in systems, databases, network drives and on cloud servers, etc. Electronic public 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 following resources:
- Electronic Records Guidelines
- Email Management Guidelines
- Guidance for Managing Electronic Records in Shared Drives
- Policy for Managing Records Created on Collaboration Platforms
- Social Media Records Management Policy and Guidelines
Training and Additional Resources
Government institutions must develop their own internal RIM programs including dedicated resources, policies, procedures and training. The PAS has developed tools, such as online training modules and guidance documents, to assist government institutions in establishing these programs in compliance with the APRMA. Training modules, and all PAS developed policies, guidelines and tools are available on the PAS website. The training modules are also available on the My Learning App: