Nickel Belt is a provincial

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

located in the Canadian province of Ontario. It elects one member to the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

. The district is located in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

and includes much of the eastern and southern parts of the District of Sudbury, as well as most of

Greater Sudbury Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the List of the largest cities and to ...

outside the city's urban core. Communities include Lively, Onaping, Levack, Dowling,

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

, Naughton,

Azilda Rayside-Balfour (1996 census population 16,050) was a town in Ontario, Canada, which existed from 1973 to 2000. It is now part of the city of Greater Sudbury. The town was created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury and took its name ...

, Coniston, Wahnapitae, Garson, Val Caron, Val Thérèse, Hanmer and

Capreol Capreol ( ) is a community in the Ontario city of Greater Sudbury. Situated on the Vermilion River (35 mins north of the downtown core), Capreol is the city's northernmost populated area. From 1918 to 2000, Capreol existed as an independent tow ...

Boundary redistribution

Prior to redistribution in 1998, the district included all of Sudbury District except the southeastern portion, as well as the western half of what was then the

Regional Municipality of Sudbury The Regional Municipality of Sudbury was a Regional Municipality that existed in Ontario, Canada, from 1973 to 2000, and was primarily centred on the city of Sudbury. It served as an upper-tier level of municipal government, aggregating municipal ...

(

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...

Rayside-Balfour Rayside-Balfour (1996 census population 16,050) was a town in Ontario, Canada, which existed from 1973 to 2000. It is now part of the city of Greater Sudbury. The town was created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury and took its name ...

and

Onaping Falls Onaping Falls (1996 census population 5,277) was a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, which existed from 1973 to 2000. It was created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury, and took its name from the waterfalls (High Falls) on th ...

). The eastern half of the current Nickel Belt comprised the separate district of

Sudbury East Sudbury East was a provincial electoral riding in the Canadian province of Ontario, that was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1999. It served the easternmost portion of the former city of Sudbury, the eastern port ...

. In 1998, Ontario was divided into the same electoral districts as those used for federal electoral purposes. They were redistributed whenever a readjustment took place at the federal level. This change resulted in Sudbury East being reabsorbed back into Nickel Belt. In 2005, legislation was passed by the Legislature to divide Ontario into 107 electoral districts, beginning with the next provincial election in 2007. The eleven northern electoral districts, including Nickel Belt, are those defined for federal purposes in 1996, based on the 1991 census (except for a minor boundary adjustment). The 96 southern electoral districts are those defined for federal electoral purposes in 2003, based on the 2001 census. Without this legislation, the number of electoral districts in northern Ontario would have been reduced from eleven to ten.Elections Ontario web site, “New Electoral Boundaries”
This change primarily affects the

area, which is part of the Sudbury riding federally but remains in Nickel Belt provincially, and the

West Nipissing West Nipissing is a municipality in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, on Lake Nipissing in the Nipissing District. It was formed on January 1, 1999, with the amalgamation of seventeen and a half former town, villages, townships and unorganized communi ...

area, which is part of Nickel Belt federally but

Timiskaming—Cochrane Timiskaming—Cochrane was a federal electoral district in Ontario that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2003. It was located in the northeast part of Ontario. This riding was created in 1996 from parts of Cochra ...

provincially.

Members of Provincial Parliament

Election results since 1977

2007 electoral reform referendum

Notes

Sources

* Elections Ontario Results
1999 results

2003 results

2007 resultsMap of riding for 2018 election
{{coord , 46.96, N, 81.51, W, display=title Ontario provincial electoral districts Politics of Greater Sudbury Sudbury District