The legislation that applies to provincial public bodies and local public bodies, including departments of the provincial government, is the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The legislation that applies to municipal bodies is: Part XX of the Municipal Government Act .
The legislation that provides for privacy oversight is the Privacy Review Officer Act.
It is important to note that, pursuant to section 502 of the MGA, any changes made to the FOIPOP Act also Apply to Part XX of the MGA.
You may find a table of concordance (PDF) between the FOIPOP Act and the MGA to be helpful.
Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations has prepared a useful document called: Introductory Guide to Part XX: Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy.
The FOIPOP Act, MGA and the Privacy Review Officer Act share a common set of regulations:
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Regulations
To learn more about accessing Government of Canada records, check the website of the: Information Commissioner of Canada
FOIPOP (web link)
Regulations (web link)
Municipals (pdf)