Federally, the island is represented in the House of Commons by the Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing. During the redistribution of federal electoral districts that followed the 2011 census, the commission recommended removing St. Joseph Island from the Sault Ste. Marie electoral district that includes the City of Sault Ste. Marie and returning it to the more rural Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing district on the basis that the island has "some community of interest with other similar-sized communities along Highway 17" in that electoral district.