Portage la Prairie is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. As of 2011, the population was 12,996 and the land area of the city was . Portage la Prairie is located approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Highway (located exactly between the provincial boundaries of Saskatchewan and Ontario), and sits on the Assiniboine River, which flooded the town persistently until a diversion channel north to Lake Manitoba (the Portage Diversion) was built to divert the flood waters. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie.