[5] In 1794, a fur trading post was built on the Peace River at Fort St. John; it was the first settlement established on the British Columbia mainland by Europeans.

The rich soils of the Peace River valley in Alberta have been producing wheat crops since the late 19th century.

Brothers of the Oblate Order of Mary Immaculate built the St. Charles to navigate the upper reaches of the River, from Fort Vermilion to Hudson's Hope.

Hydroelectric development began on the Peace River in 1968 and continues to be an important source of renewable energy for British Columbia's main electricity provider, BC Hydro.

[8] The Site C dam is under construction and scheduled to be finished in 2025; it will further benefit from the upstream dams and generate additional electrical capacity to meet British Columbia's growing demand for green energy and reduce the carbon footprint of residents.

[11] At Peace Point, where it drains in the Slave River, it has an annual discharge of 68.2 billion cubic metres (55.3 million acre-feet).

The only river cutting completely through the Rockies,[13][14] it nowadays flows into Dinosaur Lake, a reservoir for the Peace Canyon Dam.

A few Indian reserves are also on the river banks, among them Beaver Ranch 163, John D'Or Prairie 215, Fox Lake 162, Peace Point 222 and Devil's Gate 220.