The Government of B.C. and the Royal British Columbia
Museum (RBCM) have reached a joint agreement for funding of
government archival records. The agreement allows the government to
transfer 33,000 boxes of government records to BC Archives.

Government and RBCM reached a deal that will provide funding to
process the backlog and provide archival access to government
records; as well as provide funding for current and future storage as
more archival records are transferred to the RBCM’s collections.

This agreement provides stable funding for the RBCM and BC Archives’
government records collections. There are arrangements to cover the
costs of storing records and to process, catalogue, preserve and make
publically accessible new and future records as well as the records
already awaiting inclusion into the archive.

Government policy lays out rules on how to identify important records
and documents for permanent storage. Government will continue to
determine which records will be retained and transferred to the BC
Archives in perpetuity to document important government decisions for
future generations.

The agreement includes:
* Commitment to fund storage of government records being transferred
to RBCM now and in the future (up-front payment for first 20 years).
* Government will provide up to $400,000/yr. funding to the RBCM for
the costs of arranging, cataloguing and preserving newly transferred
and future records (to be reviewed after five years).
* The RBCM will cover storage, arrangement, cataloguing and
preservation costs relating to previously transferred archival
records from its existing budget.