Algoma District

District in central Ontario, Canada; area 51,207 sq km/19,771 sq mi; population (1991) 127,300. It is located on the east of Lake Superior and north of the St Marys River and the North Channel of Lake Huron. Its administrative headquarters is Sault Ste Marie; other communities include Elliot Lake and Wawa. Extending north into the Canadian Shield, the Algoma region has been an important iron and steel producer since before 1900, the industry centring on Sault Ste Marie (the Soo) and drawing on resources in the north.

The Algoma Central Railway (1899) connected the Soo with Wawa, and later with Hearst, 470 km/290 mi to the north. There was a 1950s uranium boom at Elliot Lake, and pulp, lumber, and some agriculture, especially along Lake Huron, have been important.