| Official Name: | Northeastern Ontario Nord-est de l'Ontario (French) |
| Settlement Type: | Secondary region |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Coordinates: | 48°N -126°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Area Total Km2: | 280,290.16 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Total: | 509,771 |
| Population Density Km2: | 1.96 |
| Blank Name: | Largest city |
| Blank Info: | Greater Sudbury 166,004 (2021) |
Northeastern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, which lies north of Lake Huron and east of Lake Superior.[1]
Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timiskaming, Nipissing and Manitoulin. For some purposes, Parry Sound District and Muskoka District Municipality are treated as part of Northeastern Ontario although they are geographically in Central Ontario. These two divisions are coloured in green on the map.
Northeastern Ontario and Northwestern Ontario may also be grouped together as Northern Ontario. An important difference between the two sub-regions is that Northeastern Ontario has a sizable Franco-Ontarian population — approximately 25 per cent of the region's population speaks French as a first language, compared with 3.2 per cent in the northwest.[2] Virtually the entire region, except only the Manitoulin District, is designated as a French-language service area under Ontario's French Language Services Act. In the northwest, by contrast, only a few standalone municipalities are so designated.
In 2023, the Northeastern Ontario Tourism agency launched a social media marketing campaign, branding the region as "The Seven" in reference to the 705 telephone area code and the common nickname of Toronto as "The Six".[3]
There are six cities in Northeastern Ontario. They are, in alphabetical order:[4]
| Name of City | Population (2021) | District | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elliot Lake | 11,372 | Algoma District | ||
| Greater Sudbury | 166,004 | Greater Sudbury | ||
| North Bay | 52,662 | Nipissing District | ||
| Sault Ste. Marie | 72,051 | Algoma District | ||
| Temiskaming Shores | 9,634 | Timiskaming District | ||
| Timmins | 41,145 | Cochrane District |
The towns in Northeastern Ontario listed in alphabetical order include.
| Name of Town | Population (2021) | District | Ref. | Name of Town | Population | District | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind River | 3,620 | Algoma District | 7,750 | Timiskaming District | |||
| Bruce Mines | 582 | Algoma District | Latchford | 355 | Timiskaming District | ||
| Chapleau | 1,942 | Sudbury District | 2,708 | Sudbury District | |||
| Cobalt | 989 | Timiskaming District | Mattawa | 1,881 | Nipissing District | ||
| Cochrane | 5,390 | Cochrane District | Moosonee | 1,512 | Cochrane District | ||
| Englehart | 1,442 | Timiskaming District | Smooth Rock Falls | 1,200 | Cochrane District | ||
| Espanola | 5,185 | Sudbury District | Spanish | 670 | Algoma District | ||
| French River | 2,828 | Sudbury District | St. Charles | 1,357 | Sudbury District | ||
| Hearst | 4,794 | Cochrane District | Thessalon | 1,260 | Algoma District | ||
| Iroquois Falls | 4,418 | Cochrane District | Temagami | 862 | Nipissing District | ||
| Kapuskasing | 8,057 | Cochrane District |
The region is served by several branches of the Trans-Canada Highway, including Highway 11, Highway 17, Highway 66 and Highway 69. Several other highways in the region are part of the provincial highway system, but not the national Trans-Canada Highway.
The only freeways in the region are a portion of Highway 17 in the Walden district of Greater Sudbury, and most but not all of Highway 69 between Greater Sudbury and the French River. The remainder of Highway 69 is slated for conversion into a full freeway, and will be redesignated as part of Highway 400 when the construction is complete. The provincial government also has plans on file for the eventual conversion of Highway 17 to freeway from Sault Ste. Marie easterly toward Ottawa, although no timetable for this project has been announced as of 2018 except for the conversion of Highway 17's Southwest and Southeast Bypasses route through Sudbury near the completion of the Highway 69/400 project.
| Population of Northeastern Ontario | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | 2021 | ± | 2016 | ± | 2011 | ± | 2006 | ± | 2001 | ± | 1996 | |
| Northeastern Ontario | 509,771 | 0.8% | 505,625 | -0.7% | 508,982 | -0.3% | 510,326 | -3.3% | 512,007 | -5.6% | 542,248 | |
| Algoma District | 113,777 | -0.3% | 114,094 | -1.5% | 115,870 | -1.4% | 117,461 | -0.9% | 118,567 | -5.5% | 125,455 | |
| Cochrane District | 77,963 | -2.2% | 79,682 | -1.8% | 81,122 | -1.7% | 82,503 † | -3.2% | 85,247 | -8.6% | 93,240 | |
| Greater Sudbury (including enclaved Wahnapitae First Nations reserve) | 166,128 | 2.8% | 161,647 | 0.8% | 160,376 | 1.6% | 157,909 | 1.7% | 155,268 | -6.1% | 165,336 | |
| Manitoulin District | 13,935 | 5.1% | 13,255 | 1.6% | 13,048 | -0.3% | 13,090 | 3.2% | 12,679 | 7.9% | 11,747 | |
| Nipissing District | 84,176 | 1.9% | 83,150 | -1.9% | 84,736 | 0.1% | 84,688 † | 2.1% | 82,910 | -2.3% | 84,832 | |
| Sudbury District | 22,368 | 3.8% | 21,546 | 1.7% | 21,196 | -3.0% | 21,392 | -6.6% | 22,894 | -3.9% | 23,831 | |
| Timiskaming District | 31,424 | -2.6% | 32,251 | -1.2% | 32,634 | -1.9% | 33,283 | -3.4% | 34,442 | -8.9% | 37,807 | |