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

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).

Without this legislation, the number of electoral districts in northern Ontario would have been reduced from eleven to ten.

[2] This change primarily affects the Walden area, which is part of the Sudbury riding federally but remains in Nickel Belt provincially, and the West Nipissing area, which is part of Nickel Belt federally but Timiskaming—Cochrane provincially.