[1] Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timiskaming, Nipissing and Manitoulin.

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.

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".

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.