The Directive on Disposal of Surplus Materiel was rescinded on May 13, 2022. It has been replaced by the Directive on the Management of Materiel.
This directive takes effect on November 1, 2006.
This directive applies to all departments as defined in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act, with the exception of paragraph 2(c) thereof, unless specific acts or regulations override it.
This directive does not apply to the disposal of intellectual property, records, information, financial assets, or seized or confiscated property.
The Treasury Board Policy on Management of Materiel provides direction for the management of departmental materiel assets throughout their life cycle, and, with regard to disposal, requires that deputy heads ensure that:
"The disposal of surplus materiel assets is concluded as effectively as possible, as soon as possible after they become surplus to the requirements of program delivery, in a manner that obtains highest net value for the Crown, and in compliance with the Treasury Board Directive on Disposal of Surplus Materiel."
This directive sets out additional and more specific requirements that departments must meet during the disposal phase of the life cycle of their materiel assets. This directive is issued pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, subsections 7(1), 9(2) and 62, and the Surplus Crown Assets Act, subsection 3(1)(b).
4.1 Departments must offer right of first refusal of all surplus personal computers, laptops, servers, monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, modems, hubs, network cards, hard drives, etc., to the Industry Canada Computers for Schools Program.
4.2 Departments must place all surplus books in Canada in the care or custody of the Librarian and Archivist of Canada.
4.3 Whenever practicable, departments must make surplus materiel assets available, whether gratuitously, at book value, or at market value, to other federal departments and agencies before disposing of them outside the federal domain.
4.4 When the estimated total costs (including the costs to the Crown Assets Distribution Directorate and Crown Asset Distribution Centres operated by Public Works and Government Services Canada [PWGSC]) of a disposal are likely to exceed the proceeds of sale, departments must consider and select one of the following cost minimizing options:
4.5 When trading in surplus assets for which procurement through a standing offer is not mandatory, departments must:
4.6 When the sale of valuable (market value exceeds disposal cost) surplus materiel assets at less than market value or to a limited market will serve the public interest more than sale to the public at market value, departments must ensure that the terms of each such disposal are approved by the minister through whom the department reports to Parliament.
4.7 When the donation of valuable (market value exceeds disposal cost) surplus materiel assets to designated recipients will serve the public interest more than sale to the public at market value, departments must ensure that the donation is authorized in writing by the minister through whom the department reports to Parliament. Departments must make these donations directly, i.e., not through PWGSC.
4.8 When selling surplus materiel assets in Canada, departments must:
4.9 When selling surplus materiel assets at sites in Canada too remote for PWGSC to effectively manage sales and at sites outside Canada, departments are authorized to sell their surplus materiel assets directly.
4.10 When spending the proceeds of disposal, departments must:
4.11 Departments must maintain auditable records of the costing analyses that were used to justify disposal decisions.
4.12 Departments must have a delegation instrument in place that clearly sets out departmental authorities and accountabilities for the disposal of surplus moveable materiel assets.
4.13 PWGSC must endeavour on an ongoing basis to optimize the roles of the private sector and the non-federal public sector in Canada in the disposal of surplus materiel assets.
4.14 When selling or putting arrangements in place to sell surplus materiel assets on behalf of departments, PWGSC must ensure that as broad and as transparent an opportunity as possible is made available to Canadians to purchase these assets.
Note: This section is meant to inform departments of other significant players in the disposal of surplus materiel assets. In and of itself, it does not confer an authority.
5.1 PWGSC is responsible under the Surplus Crown Assets Act for disposal of all surplus materiel assets for which authority has not been given either by legislation or by the Treasury Board to another department.
PWGSC is also responsible for the provision of strategic, procedural, and technical advice on the disposal of surplus materiel.
5.2 Industry Canada is responsible for the management of federal equipment contributions to the Computers for Schools Program.
Please direct enquiries about this policy instrument to the organizational unit in your department responsible for this subject matter. For interpretation of this policy instrument, the responsible organizational unit should contact: TBS Public Enquiries.