BY-LAW NUMBER 2-97 - 23rd January, 1997

THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF PEEL

BY-LAW NUMBER 2-97
A by-law to provide for the preservation and destruction of documents and records of the Regional Municipality of Peel and to repeal By-law Number 63-92.

WHEREAS under Section 116 of the Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter M.45, as amended, a municipality may by by-law establish schedules of retention periods during which its receipts, vouchers, instruments, rolls or other documents, records and papers must be kept by the municipality;

AND WHEREAS Section 136 of the Regional Municipalities Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter R.8, as amended, provides that Section 116 of the Municipal Act applies to the Regional Corporation;

AND WHEREAS the Council of the Regional Corporation has by resolution adopted on the 23rd January, 1997 authorized the passing of a records retention by-law;

NOW THEREFORE the Council of the Regional Corporation enacts as follows:

1. In this by-law,

"dispose" means either to destroy records or to transfer records to the Regional Archives and "disposition" has the same meaning;

"office of record" means the office which is responsible for retaining specified records identified in the retention schedule;

"record" means any recorded information, however recorded, whether in printed form, on film, by electronic means or otherwise, including correspondence, memoranda, plans, maps, drawings, graphic works, photographs, film, microfilm, sound recordings, videotapes, machine readable records, and any other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, but excluding non-records, kept solely for convenience of reference, such as non-Regional publications, blank forms, and working papers, rough notes or drafts of limited value in documenting the planning or implementation of Regional policy or programs;

"records centre" means a low cost storage facility used to house inactive records of the Region;

"retention period" means the period of time during which records must be kept by the Region before they may be disposed of;

"retention schedule" means the schedule prescribing how long specific records must be retained before they may be disposed of;

"signing authority" means a person responsible for the operation and management of a division or section and designated by an office of record with authority to approve the relocation or destruction of records in accordance with this by-law;

2. The retention schedule attached as Schedule A forms part of this by-law. The Manager of Corporate Records shall administer the retention schedule and shall ensure that the schedule complies with all relevant legal requirements for records retention at all times.

3. All employees who work with, create or manage records shall:

(a) comply with the retention periods as specified in the retention schedule;

(b) apply retention periods to records for which their office has been designated as the office of record, and destroy records only in accordance with the retention schedule; and

4. The Manager of Corporate Records shall provide a records centre service to all Regional departments, and shall ensure the preservation, security and disposition of records in the custody of the records centre, in accordance with the retention schedule.

5. The Manager of Corporate Records shall notify the signing authority for each office of record in writing, of the scheduled disposition of records stored at the records centre. The signing authority for the office of record shall notify the Manager of Corporate Records in writing, before the disposition date, whether records included in the disposition notice need to be retained further, and the reason why further retention is required. Where appropriate and taking into account the principles outlined in section 6, the Manager of Corporate Records shall reschedule the disposition of such records for up to one year. Rescheduling beyond a one-year period requires written notice from the signing authority to the Manager of Corporate Records, for each additional year.

6. The following principles govern the destruction of records:

(a) When there are no further legal or business reasons for retaining them, records shall be destroyed as a class rather than selectively.

(b) Records pertaining to pending or actual litigation shall not be destroyed with the class of records to which they relate. The signing authority for the office of record shall separate such records from other records to ensure that they are not destroyed.

(c) Records disposed of at the end of a retention period, as well as drafts and copies of records disposed of on a regular basis, shall be destroyed in a way that preserves the confidentiality of any information they contain.

7. When the Regional Archivist deems records to be of archival significance, the Archivist has the authority to stop a disposition or remove selected records from a disposition.

8. Records in the custody or control of the Region must not be destroyed by any person unless such records are identified in a disposition notice or have outlived the required retention period of the retention schedule. Copies of records may be destroyed at any time if the original records are being retained subject to a retention period.

9. The Manager of Corporate Records shall ensure that a register of all records disposed of pursuant to this by-law is prepared and preserved.

10. When records have been destroyed pursuant to this by-law, the Manager of Corporate Records and the Regional Archivist shall sign a certificate of destruction and the certificate shall identify records destroyed and the date and manner of destruction.

11. This by-law shall take effect when the Region's auditor has approved it in writing.

12. By-law Number 63-92 is repealed.

READ THREE TIMES AND FINALLY PASSED IN OPEN COUNCIL this 23rd January, 1997.

Regional Clerk Regional Chair