It consists of one or more sessions and comes to an end upon dissolution (or constitutionally by the effluxion of time — approximately five years) and an ensuing general election.

Today, the unicameral legislature is made up of two elements: the lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada)[1] and a legislative assembly called the House of Assembly.

Like at the Canadian federal level, Nova Scotia uses a Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which members are elected to the House of Assembly in general elections and the leader of the party with the confidence of the Assembly (normally the party with the most seats) becomes the premier of Nova Scotia and chooses the Executive Council from amongst the party's members of the Assembly.

From 1758 to 1838, it had an upper house called the Council, which also held executive functions.

The Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, 1758-1983: a biographical directory (PDF).