Legislation

Nova Scotia’s Office of the Legislative Counsel provides bills, statutes and proclamations from the 1998-1999 session to date, as well as Statutes at Large, 1758 to 1835. The most current Table of Public Statutes and Index to Local and Private Acts are also provided.

The Nova Scotia Legislative Library provides access to digitized versions of the annual statutes, 1836 to 1997, and the revised statutes from 1851 to 1989. See Nova Scotia Legislature link for status of bills before the House.

LEGISinfo, a collaboration of the Senate, House of Commons and Library of Parliament, provides information on legislation before Parliament, including text of a bill as introduced and most recent version if amended, details on the bill’s passage, coming into force data and more.

Justice Laws Website provides consolidated federal statutes and regulations maintained by the Department of Justice Canada. As of June 1, 2009, all consolidated statutes and regulations available through Justice Laws are official and can be used for evidentiary purposes.

Coverage: Annual statutes (not official) from 2001 to date. Point-in-time versions from January 1, 2003 for acts and March 22, 2006 for regulations.

CanLII provides access to legislation from all provinces and territories in Canada, as well as the federal realm, including some point-in-time coverage of legislation for some jurisdictions. See CanLII’s Details for Statutes and Regulations of Nova Scotia. Where accuracy is critical, consult official sources.

Codify is a free legislative resource covering all jurisdictions in Canada. Twice a day, they publish all legislative changes in Canada. In addition to publishing updates, they offer topic filters for specific practice areas, along with a built-in search engine. Individuals can also “subscribe” to bills and statutes to receive live email updates. 

Contact the Library at 902 425 2665 or 1-866-219 1202 (toll free) or email us at at nsbslib@nsbs.org for assistance.