The arrondissement of Bourg-en-Bresse was created in 1800.[4] At the January 2017 reorganization of the arrondissements of Ain, it lost 12 communes to the arrondissement of Belley and four to the arrondissement of Nantua.[5]
As a result of the reorganisation of the cantons of France which came into effect in 2015, the borders of the cantons are no longer related to the borders of the arrondissements. The cantons of the arrondissement of Bourg-en-Bresse were, as of January 2015:[6]