The smaller northern portion is undeveloped, whereas the southern piece is the main inhabited part with the population centres of Portneuf (south of Autoroute 40), and the adjacent Notre-Dame-de-Portneuf, north of A-40.

The present-day municipality was created in 2002, when the old city of Portneuf merged with the town of Notre-Dame-de-Portneuf.

[6] In 1636, the area was granted by the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France as a seignory to Jacques Leneuf de La Poterie (1606-after 1685), who arrived in Quebec only some months later and became substitute governor of Trois-Rivières from 1645 to 1662.

The first colonizers came around 1640 and settled at the mouth of the "Port Neuf" River (meaning new harbour).

In 1896, it lost a large portion of its territory when the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Christine was formed.