[2] Portage la Prairie is approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Highway (exactly halfway between the provincial boundaries of Saskatchewan and Ontario).

Long before European settlers arrived in the mid-1800s,[6] the Portage la Prairie area was first inhabited by several Indigenous nations (including the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe, Cree, and Dakota/Sioux peoples) at various times across millennia.

This particular "portage" route, used by Indigenous peoples even before the global Fur Trade, ran for 25 kilometres between the Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba.

[11] In 1851, Archdeacon William Cochrane (Cockran)[12] of the Anglican Church, John McLean,[13] as well as other ambitious settlers, were among the first to acquire permanent land in the area from the local Indigenous people, around what is now Crescent Lake (formerly known as "The Slough").

A school was soon built as settlers poured in from the east and the community began to develop, followed by a church (St. Mary's La Prairie, 1854), and soon, numerous local businesses.

For a brief period between 1867-68, just before the province of Manitoba entered confederation, Thomas Spence—a councillor for Louis Riel's Provisional Government—controversially lead an organized movement to establish an independent state around the community of Portage la Prairie, known as the Republic of Manitobah.

Spence's hopeful plans for a new republic were soon quashed as his movement was never recognized as an official government nor granted any royal assent by the British monarchy.

The 1870s was a decade of rapid growth for Portage la Prairie, as many more settlers moved to town establishing farms and opening new businesses.

Freight and supplies were transported by oxcart and steamboat until the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1881, the year after Portage was incorporated as a town.

In 1907, Portage was incorporated as a city, and from that point on, managed to keep a gradual rate of growth and development, serving as a regional hub for agriculture, retail, manufacturing and transportation in central Manitoba.

[14] The city became a major transportation centre due to its proximity to the river, and later, the location of the main lines of the country's national railways passing through the community.

The post-glacial flood plain surrounding Portage la Prairie is highly fertile, with rich, clay-loam soils abundant in nutrients.

The rural land surrounding the community is undoubtedly a breadbasket in North America, boasting some of the best soils on the continent for the production of a wide array of vegetables, berries, grains, and lentils.

The Portage la Prairie Canadian Pacific Railway Station no longer receives passenger rail service, and is operated as a museum.

Some of the highlights of the museum include a replica of the historic Fort la Reine and Hudson's Bay Company York Boat; a railway caboose and the 1882 official rail car of Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, builder of the Canadian Pacific Railway; a fully restored Ukrainian Pioneer Church; a number of houses that are more than 100 years old; a firehall with a fully restored 1931 Seagrave Fire Truck; the Old Officers Mess from the now-retired Canadian Forces Base in Southport; a schoolhouse and church built in the 1880s from West Prospect (a pioneer farming community that no longer exists); and a Sioux tipi.

Prairie Fusion is considered to be one of the primary cultural gathering places of Portage, and brings in many theatre, dance, and musical performances and events.

Scenes for the documentary film We Were Children were shot at the former residential school in Portage la Prairie, now the Rufus Prince building.

Island Park features a network of walking trails, tennis courts, a large playground, picnic areas, two bandstands, a duck pond, deer sanctuary, various monuments, and an extensive arboretum.

The city is also home to kilometres of multi-use recreational trails running through the parks and forested areas, which provide an oasis for sightseers to view wildlife.

Aside from parks, the Portage la Prairie/Central Plains Region features many fine campgrounds located within a 15-30-minute drive of the city, and offers a few public beaches including Delta Beach, home to the Delta Marsh Field Station/Wildlife Reserve (part of this beach/area was destroyed due to flooding in the spring of 2011), Jackson Lake (located 2 mi (3.2 km) southeast of Sidney, Manitoba, about a 35-minute drive west of Portage la Prairie) and Twin Lakes Beach, an hour northeast of Portage, also on Lake Manitoba.

Aside from Island Park, Fort la Reine Museum, and Prairie Fusion Arts & Entertainment (William Glesby Theatre), Portage la Prairie is home to a variety of other attractions to visit, including: One of Portage la Prairie's most popular attractions, the Community Walkway, which parallels Crescent Lake's waterfront, is a 5.2 km (3.2 mi), multi-use trail used for walking, bicycling, skateboarding and rollerblading, running past many grand heritage homes and the tranquil, picturesque sites along the lake.

The BDO Centre for the Community is another local arena in the city's north end, used predominantly for youth and children's activities like hockey and ringette practice.

This hotel includes the rink of the Portage Curling Club, Aalto's Garden Cafe, a pub known as Tavern United, and many banquet halls.

During the Second World War an Algerine-class minesweeper commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy was named after Portage la Prairie.

Portage la Prairie is also home to the McCain Foods and Simplot potato processing plants, which provide French fries for McDonald's, Wendy's, and various other commercialized restaurant chains.

Since Portage la Prairie is a commercial hub for the Central Plains Area, it serves some 50,000 people living within an approximately 50 km radius.

Portage la Prairie is a farming city, with an average of 122 frost free days,[3] and a USDA Plant Hardiness Zone of 3a.

The Portage Centennial Arena (now called the BDO Centre for the Community) shared hosting duties of the 1999 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships with Winnipeg, Morden and Selkirk.

Several sports films have been shot at Stride Place, including Goon and The Wrath of Grapes: The Don Cherry Story II.

As part of the 2012–13 World Curling Tour the city hosted the 2012 Canad Inns Prairie Classic which was won by Kevin Koe.