It is just west of the similarly named Témiscamingue county in Quebec, which is also informally called a region, but is administratively part of a greater region named Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

The coureurs de bois explored and traded fur in what is now the Timiskaming District, in the 17th century.

[2] City: Towns: Townships: Village: Unorganized areas: The following local services boards serve inhabitants of these unincorporated areas: As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Timiskaming District had a population of 31,424 living in 14,132 of its 16,290 total private dwellings, a change of −2.6% from its 2016 population of 32,251.

Along with portions of the neighbouring district, Cochrane, Timiskaming is represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by John Vanthof.

A very small portion of the district also belongs to the riding of Nickel Belt.