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Multi-Institutional Disposition Authorities (MIDA)

3.2 Appendix II – Profile of The Real Property Management Function of Institutions subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act

The purpose of the Functional Profile is to facilitate the application of the Terms and Conditions (Appendix I) relating to the disposition of common administrative records created, collected or maintained by government institutions subject to the Library and Archives of Canada Act in support of the Real Property Management Function. It consists of a template describing the five major sub-functions associated with Real Property Management, and subdivided by activities, tasks, and processes as appropriate.

For the purposes of archival appraisal, records disposition, and records and file classification system design, a Function means: 1) any high level purpose, responsibility, task or activity which is assigned to the accountability agenda of an institution by legislation, policy or mandate; 2) typically common administrative or operational functions of policy development and program and/or delivery of goods or services; 3) a set or series of activities (broadly speaking a business process) which, when carried out according to a prescribed sequence, will result in an institution or individual producing the expected results in terms of the goods or services it is mandated or delegated to provide.

Real Property Management

The function of Real Property Management, as a broad conceptual description of a common or shared function within and across all government institutions, is the management of federal real property¹ as defined by the Federal Real Property Act, such as buildings, lands, fixed structures and related utility infrastructures, and other real property² assets. The Federal Real Property Act establishes ministers’ authority to enter into transactions for acquiring, transferring, and disposing of real property, and the Real Property Transactions Processes and Authority Policy of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat sets thresholds above which Treasury Board (TB) approval is required before an institution carries out a transaction. This function involves how an institution manages its real property assets to ensure it meets its operational requirements for effective program delivery to the maximum long-term economic advantage of the government, to honour environmental objectives, to provide safe and adequate facilities, and to respect relevant government policies on the acquisition, use, maintenance, and disposition of real property by the Government of Canada. Real Property Management is described as a life-cycle approach to the management of real property assets of an institution or administered by an institution, as set out in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Real Property Management policies and related publications. The life-cycle approach can be applied to any institution whether or not it is subject to federal central agency policies or guidelines. Real Property Management and its various sub-functions, as it is understood here, is governed by Federal, Provincial or other Acts, Statutes, Regulations, and Circulars and all other Appendices and Sections which consist of either mandatory or optional requirements as specified.

The Treasury Board Advisory Committee on Real Property (TBAC/RP), consisting of senior representatives from custodian, policy and service departments, advises the TB on federal government real property policies, practices and expenditures, and provides a forum for discussing real property issues. Departments having administration of real property must develop, maintain and apply appropriate organizational, technical, administrative and financial structures, policies, practices and systems to manage the real property in their custody. Custodian departments (those whose Minister has administration of real property for the purposes of the department’s programs) are accountable for initiating all actions concerning the acquisition, use, and disposition of real property required to deliver their programs, and must obtain all services related to real property in accordance with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Common Services Policy for mandatory and optional services. For example, Public Works and Government Services Canada (as a common service organization, upon request from an institution) can provide services and advice on acquisition, management, or disposition of real property; and provide architectural and engineering services, including services in respect of the adoption and application of related codes, standards, procedures, guidelines and technologies. For a complete list of real property custodian organizations and the policy and service organizations, institutions should refer to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Real Property Management policies and publications.

This Functional Profile and Authority 2001/002 does not apply to any record created, collected, or received by an institution to support and document its operational real property business functions, programmes, processes, transactions, services, and all other activities uniquely or specifically assigned to that particular institution as an Office of Primary Interest or Office of Collateral Interest by legislation, regulation, mandate or policy. For example, institutions having an operational mandate to assess and plan, acquire, operate and use, maintain, or dispose of any real property, such as (but not restricted to): railways, ports, airports, canals or locks, drydocks, shipyards, harbours, waterways, roads or highways, bridges, tunnels, museums, galleries, art centres, cultural repositories, libraries, observatories, conservatories, post offices, training facilities, sites, buildings, structures, parks or monuments, correctional facilities and reformatories, radar installations, power generating facilities, land waste sites, mines and minerals, federal records centres, etc., cannot use Authority 2001/002 for those aspects of their Real Property Management activities. This condition applies whether or not the institution uses the mandatory or optional real property common services of an Office of Primary Interest such as Public Works and Government Services Canada or the Department of Justice Canada.

This Functional Profile and Authority 2001/002 does not apply to any record created, collected, or received by an institution to support and document its real property functions, programmes, processes, transactions, services, and all other activities relating to national parks, national historic sites, historic canals, national battlefields, national conservation areas, heritage railway stations, federal heritage buildings, and monuments that have been designated, classified, or recognized by the Minister of Canadian Heritage as heritage property having national or historical significance, as these are by definition not common or administrative in nature.

Real Property Management in this functional profile is divided into five sub-functions of the life-cycle of real property assets. The five sub-functions of the Real Property Management Function (RPMF) are listed below in bold:

1. assessing and planning real property requirements,
2. acquiring real property assets and related services,
3. operating and using real property,
4. maintaining real property assets, and
5. replacing, transferring and disposing of real property assets.

The Real Property Management functional profile applies to the following five common administrative sub-functions:

Assessing and Planning Real Property Requirements

This sub-function generally encompasses the business processes and activities which produce records created by government institutions while evaluating existing assets and resources, and assessing current and future organizational needs; developing short-term to maximum long-term strategic planning and life-cycle costing of acquisition alternatives; coordinating the development of real property objectives based on requirements for institutional programs and plans that are consistent with corporate goals, including environmental objectives, policy and legislation; keeping inventories and maintaining records of real property administered by departments and Crown corporations, including recording information in the Directory of Federal Real Property (DFRP) containing the central records of the real property holdings of the Government of Canada; seeking the administration of real property, through acquisition or transfer only when the property is required for the purposes of the department’s programs; conducting regular reviews of the real property administered, linking it to program requirements, and confirming that the current use of it is appropriate; ascertaining the environmental condition of the property before acquisition and determining whether it is or can be made environmentally compatible with its intended use; and systematically examining and assessing the condition of the real property in inventory and using this information to determine when and how to acquire, maintain, preserve, and renew its value based on the full life-cycle costs of the property involved.

Acquiring Real Property Assets and Related Services

This sub-function generally encompasses the business processes and activities which produce records created by government institutions that add new real property to the federal inventory by purchase, lease, exchange, gift, easement, expropriation, or any other means, such as the acceptance of the surrender of a lease or the acceptance of the relinquishment of a licence or easement; transfer of administration of real property from a department or an agent Crown corporation to a department; or a transfer of administration and control of real property to the federal government. It also includes the contracting for or provision of services supporting the acquisition, use and maintenance of real property; for example, cleaning, utilities maintenance and repair, office design, fire-protection or investigating and reporting, snow removal, surveying, etc. Acquiring real property must be done in a manner consistent with the principle of sustainable development contributing to protecting and preserving the environment, and in a manner that protects their heritage character by arranging for the Department of Canadian Heritage to evaluate sites, and all buildings 40 years of age or older as to their heritage designation before acquiring, altering, dismantling, demolishing or selling them. The Minister of Canadian Heritage is responsible for approving heritage designations of real property based on criteria and a process for evaluation and designation of such heritage or historic character, upon the recommendations of the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office or the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. The National Capital Act requires separate approval by the National Capital Commission for the acquisition, disposal and demolition of buildings on federal lands within the National Capital Region, as well as for exterior alterations and additions to them. When acquiring real property, departments must determine that the total consideration payable or receivable by the government is justified in relation to the market value of the real property using current appraisals or estimates. When proposing to acquire, lease, design, build or alter a building, institutions must have the plans, drawings or specifications reviewed by Labour Canada to ensure conformance with fire standards and codes.

Note: Whereas this sub-function includes the management of the RPMF common administrative activities and processes involved in contracting for or procuring related services it does not include the financial management or Comptrollership activities related to acquisitions. Records kept for the dual purpose of documenting Real Property Management and Comptrollership activities or transactions, whether these records are originals or copies kept by Real Property Management or Financial Management program areas for convenience, are also covered by the Records Disposition Authority for the financial Comptrollership function. In this case, the Terms and Conditions document attached to the MIDA 2001/002 describes the sequenced application of Records Disposition Authorities under the heading Scope of the Authority and shall be adhered to.

Operating and Using Real Property Assets

This sub-function generally encompasses the business processes and activities which produce records created by government institutions while operating and using real property assets such as, buildings, works, lands, communications systems, hydro-electric structures, utility infrastructures, sewers and drainage, or other fixed structures on, above or below the surface of the land; ensuring that real property is used for its intended purpose; using real property in a manner consistent with the principle of sustainable development contributing to protecting and preserving the environment, and in a manner that protects their heritage character; providing a safe, healthy and productive environment in facilities; ensuring barrier-free access to, and use of, real property owned or leased; ensuring the real property conforms to physical and fire standards and policies on occupational health and safety; and ensuring that the appropriate program department administers real property, and the total real property a department administers (referring to the stewardship between a department and the real property it uses for its program purposes and for which it is accountable) is limited to that required to directly support its program.

Maintaining Real Property Assets

This sub-function generally encompasses the business processes and activities which produce records created by government institutions while ensuring real property assets are properly maintained to extend the service life of the asset for as long as the property is required for the purposes of the institutions’ programs; repairing, refurbishing, altering, improving, and reusing assets when economically feasible; submitting annual reports to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat reflecting changes made to accessibility plans and implementation progress on accessibility improvements completed to real property. Real Property must be managed and maintained to the maximum long-term economic advantage of the government, to honour environmental objectives, and to provide safe and adequate facilities.

Replacing, Transferring and Disposing of Real Property Assets

This sub-function generally encompasses the business processes and activities which produce records created by government institutions while replacing, exchanging, transferring, disposing, or selling-off real property when these assets are beyond cost-effective repair or are no longer required for the purposes of an institution’s programs, including custody transfer of administration of real property that supports an adjustment to or transfer of program accountability, such as transfers to support the government’s reassignment of program responsibility, transfers to support government restructuring, and transfers to recognize a more appropriate custodian; disposing of real property which includes alienating real property by sale, lease, exchange, gift, easement, or any other means, such as the surrender of a lease or the relinquishment of a real property from one department to another department or an agent Crown corporation, or a transfer of administration and control of real property from the federal government; and disposing of real property in a manner consistent with the principle of sustainable development contributing to protecting and preserving the environment, and in a manner that protects their heritage character.

When disposing of real property, departments must; determine that the total consideration payable or receivable by the government is justified in relation to the market value of the real property using current appraisals or estimates; ascertain the environmental conditions of the real property and determine whether or not remediation is necessary in consultation with legal and environmental advisors; provide the public with a fair and equitable opportunity to acquire real property from, and to dispose of it to, the government by soliciting offers where it is appropriate to do so; and consult with the Department of Canadian Heritage when selling a property containing a National Historic Site or part thereof, or with the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office of Heritage Canada before disposing of recognized or classified heritage buildings. (Note: all records documenting activities related to any real property, or about the property itself, which has a recognized or classified heritage designation from the Department of Canadian Heritage are operational in nature and are, therefore, excluded from the scope of MIDA 2001/002 and this Profile)

All records documenting activities related to Canadian natural resources, mines, and minerals are operational in nature and, therefore, are excluded from the scope of MIDA 2001/002 and this Profile. All dispositions of mineral rights must be made through Natural Resources Canada.

All proposals for the alteration, demolition, or sale of sites, buildings or other works, or change to the use of public lands within the National Capital Region (NCR), must be submitted to the National Capital Commission (NCC) for approval prior to the commencement of the project, and no public lands in the NCR shall be sold without the approval of the NCC or Governor in Council.

Custodian departments must establish and maintain a database of their contaminated sites and their solid waste landfills, and provide this information (updated annually) to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) for incorporation into the central Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory and the central Federal Solid Waste Landfills Inventory, both managed by TBS. This is mandatory for sites known to be contaminated as of 1 April 1998, and optional on contaminated sites that were remediated before 1 April 1998.

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