Portage la Prairie, Man, City, pop 12 976 (2001c), 13 077 (1996c), 13 186 (1991c), 13 198 (1986c), area 24.67 km2, inc 1907, situated 85 km west of WINNIPEG, is an important regional service centre for the flat but highly fertile soils of the surrounding Portage Plains. Fort La Reine was built in the vicinity by LA VÉRENDRYE in 1738, but voyageurs gave the locality its name. After 1794 both the NWC and HBC maintained trading posts at the portage, but permanent white settlement began only after 1851, when the Reverend Cockran established a mission there.
In 1867-68 the still tiny settlement became the capital of Thomas Spence's short-lived "colony" of Manitobah. After the Pacific Railway reached there in 1880, the population grew rapidly, and the town was incorporated. Since then, Portage la Prairie has weathered boom and depression, building successfully on its accessibility and exceptional agricultural resource base to become one of the most prosperous communities in Manitoba.
Food-processing industries are a mainstay of the economy. Along with handling the district's traditional grain and field crops, Portage la Prairie industries now process such diverse products as mushrooms, soups and frozen foods. There are also large cold-storage facilities, as well as the Manitoba Research Council's Food Products Development Centre. Location on the TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY and the CPR and CNR main lines has attracted a variety of nonfood-related businesses to the city's modern industrial park. Important government-operated facilities include the Canadian Forces Base nearby.