Rainy River District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1885. It is the only division in Ontario that lies completely in the Central Time Zone, except for the township of Atikokan (including Sapawe and Kawene to the east) observing Eastern Standard Time for part of the year. Its seat is Fort Frances. It is known for its fishing and its location on the US border opposite International Falls, Minnesota, and Baudette, Minnesota. In 2016, the population was 20,110. The land area is 15486.75 km2; the population density was 1.3 /km2.

Subdivisions

Municipalities

Unorganized area

First Nations reserves

Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Rainy River District had a population of 19,437 living in 8,315 of its 10,679 total private dwellings, a change of −3.3% from its 2016 population of 20,110. With a land area of 15400.95 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Culture

As of 2013, the Rainy River District School Board has partnered with the Seven Generations Education Institute, the Ministry of Education, and local First Nations communities in development of new technologies and programs for revitalization of the Ojibwe language.