IM Community Development

• Overview
• Products and Services

Overview of IM Community

Members of the Information Management (IM) community are specialists dedicated to enhancing decision-making value and information use. As stewards of government information assets, we safeguard and ensure their quality, security and integrity in our democratic society. Our abiding commitment is to make information available that serves to illuminate the past, inform the present and shape the future of Canada.

Occupying a diverse and broad range of positions and classifications across the GC, IM specialists and advisors provide guidance, support and service to program and staff functions on all aspects of managing information resources and assets—from planning and systems development to disposal and long-term preservation.

According to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) Management of Government Information (MGI) policy, IM specialists include librarians, archivists, access to information and privacy officials and records management specialists. Depending on the governance and accountability structures that align IM resources with program and service delivery within a department or an agency, those responsible for providing the following IM-related services may also be considered IM specialists.

Products and Services

The ORO is involved with the IM Community to develop, implement and maintain the following products and services:

• IM Professional Development Curriculum to provide IM specialists with access to relevant learning to maintain and develop their IM skills and competencies.
• IM Certification Program to support consistency of IM skill sets across the GC and provide official recognition of the professional achievements of IM specialists, collectively and individually.
• IM Community Recognition Award to acknowledge and honour excellence in shareable IM practices and leadership, and to uncover, recognize and share these exemplary practices.
• Generic Work Descriptions and Organizational Models for IM that assist departments in determining how best to align their IM resources to meet their current and future requirements and to provide a consistent and integrated approach to staffing functions.
• IM and IT HR and Business Plan to assist departments in meeting key government priorities (e.g., IT Shared Services, MGI policy), and to act as a driver for future HR strategies.
• IM Portal to provide IM specialists with one-window access to extensive IM resources and to support a sense of community for those who work across the diverse IM domains.