Legislation
The Legislature’s primary function is to make laws.
Legislation is the entire body of documents related to the lawmaking process, which includes bills, acts or statutes, orders, and regulations. This site provides both current and historical legislation. The following documents and tools are available:
Bills
The status of bills table shows the progress of all bills introduced in the House of Assembly from 1995 to the present. Click on the bill title to view the first reading bill, Hansard debates, committee submissions, bill as passed, or the commencement dates for that bill.
Consolidated Public Statutes
The current laws of the Province of Nova Scotia in alphabetical order.
View Consolidated Public Statutes
Statutes in French
Official and unofficial French translations of certain laws. Most laws are available only in English.
Table of Public Statutes
The Table of Public Statutes shows revisions to all public acts in the Revised Statutes, 1989, certain public acts not included in the Revised Statutes, 1989, all public acts enacted since the Revised Statutes, 1989, and amendments made to these acts.
Index of Private and Local Acts
An index to all private and local acts from 1758 to the present.
View Index of Private and Local Acts
Proclamations
Some acts come into force by proclamation on order by the Governor in Council. This page lists all proclamations, from February 22, 1990 to the present, alphabetically by statute title.
Annual Statutes
The Statutes of Nova Scotia from 1836 to the present and the Statutes at Large from 1758 to 1835 are all available in PDF.
Revised Statutes (1851-2023)
All versions of the revised statutes from 1851 to 2023 in PDF. Each revision brings together, or consolidates, the statutes to a given point in time. In the last revision, the Consolidation and Revision Officer was authorized to:
- alter the numbering and arrangement of the statutes and sections thereof;
- combine two or more statutes or parts thereof or subdivide any statute into two or more statutes;
- add, change or omit any title of a statute;
- change the language to preserve a uniform mode of expression;
- make minor amendments to bring out more clearly what is considered to be the intention of the Legislature or to reconcile seemingly inconsistent enactments or to correct clerical, typographical or printing errors;
- omit any forms or schedules contained in any statute and add authority to the statute for the forms of schedules to be prescribed by regulation.
View Revised Statutes (1851 - 2023)
Dates of Assemblies, Sessions, and Sittings
House of Assembly opening, adjournment, resumption, prorogation, and dissolution dates since 1982.
View Dates of Assemblies, Sessions, and Sittings
