The series is a sub-registry, separately maintained to organize the records of the International Affairs, Security and Justice Sector (IASJ) of the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). IASJ is the organizational component of the expenditure management system whose records document all the agencies associated with the three ambient functional elements of the title (in distinction to the Social and Cultural Sector, the Economic Sector, and the Government Operations Sector). The records document the accountability mechanisms and program operations associated with the expenditure management system and estimates process. The principal activity documented in IASJ is the extensive evaluation of individual program activities of agencies and departments of government through the expenditure management business line, of which the annual estimates cycles are the central component. Program evaluation includes the analysis of departmental plans, programs and organizational proposals and recommendations to Treasury Board on acceptance or modifications of proposals in accordance with the financial and other priorities of the Government. In these ways, IASJ, in conjunction with related Sectors, coordinates the process whereby the government obtains funds from Parliament. IASJ also advises the President of the Treasury Board in his role as a member of Cabinet on the resource implications of new government policy and project initiatives. IASJ performs all these functions for the specific portfolio of institutions and agencies assigned to its scope of activity.
The principle departments and agencies documented in this series include Canadian Commercial Corporation, Canadian International Development Agency, Department of Foreign Affairs (and International Trade), Export Development Canada, International Development Research Centre, International Joint Commission, Department of Defence, North America Free Trade Agreement Secretariat, Passport Office, Citizenship and Immigration, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Department of Justice, Solicitor General of Canada, Canadian Human Rights Commission, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Correctional Services, Federal Court of Canada, The Office of the Commissioner of Federal Judicial Affairs, Law Commission of Canada, National Parole Board, Office of the Correctional Investigator, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Supreme Court of Canada and Canada Border Services.