Following the passage of the Fair Representation Act on December 16, 2011, an additional 30 seats were added to the Canadian House of Commons.

Furthermore, the town of Cobourg, township of Hamilton, and municipality of Port Hope was to be transferred to the new riding of Kawartha Lakes-Port Hope-Cobourg.

"[6] Widespread dissatisfaction with the proposed boundaries caused the online petition 1NORTHUMBERLAND to circulate in an attempt to keep Northumberland in the name and united under one electoral district.

Member of Parliament for Northumberland—Quinte West, Rick Norlock, Cramahae Township Mayor Marc Coombs, former MPP Lou Rinaldi, and past president of the Northumberland Federation of Agriculture, Paul Burnham all spoke against the commission's proposed boundary changes.

The first alternative would see Northumberland County join the Township of Cavan-Millbrook-North Monaghan and Clarington's Ward 4 to create the riding of "Northumberland-Pine Ridge" with an approximate population of 107,000.