Trans-Canada Highway 1 · one hour west of Winnipeg, north of Highway 75

Portage la Prairie

Manitoba · 13,270 people

If you want plant work with real shift premiums and a house you can actually buy, Portage is the most concentrated processing job market in Manitoba.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA

Population: 13,270 (2021 Census)
Known for: Potato and pea-protein processing
Downtown feature: Crescent Lake and Island Park
Commute: ~1 hour to Winnipeg on Highway 1

The place

Portage la Prairie is a food-processing city. Simplot makes french fries here, Roquette runs one of the largest pea-protein plants in the world, and McCain has produced potato products in town for decades. Around all of that sits a compact city of thirteen thousand built along Crescent Lake, an oxbow of the Assiniboine River that curls right through the middle of town.

Island Park — an urban park wrapped inside Crescent Lake, with a zoo, trails and ball diamonds.
Real shift work with premiums at three separate food processors.
Winnipeg is an hour away when you want a bigger city.
Housing costs that leave room to save.
A downtown you can walk end to end.

Getting around

Winnipeg: ~85 km / 1h
Brandon: ~130 km / 1h30
Morden / Winkler: ~1h30
US border (Emerson): ~2h

Housing

Portage has some of the most affordable housing of any Manitoba city its size — mostly older single-family stock plus newer subdivisions on the edges. Rentals are tighter than the sale market, so line up housing before a plant start date.

The community, as it photographs itself

Main streets, festivals, working days.

Parkland along Crescent Lake in Portage la Prairie · Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA

Collage of landmarks around Portage la Prairie · Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA

The historic CN railway depot in Portage la Prairie · Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA

Who hires here

The employer base, sector by sector.

J.R. Simplot Company

Food processing

Large frozen potato plant with continuous shift operations.

Roquette Canada

Agribusiness

Pea-protein processing facility, one of the largest of its kind globally.

McCain Foods

Food processing

Long-established potato processing operation.

Southport / aviation and training

Aviation / trades

Airport campus with flight training and industrial tenants.

Portage District General Hospital

Healthcare

Regional acute-care hospital operated by Southern Health-Santé Sud.

Healthcare

Portage District General Hospital — emergency, acute care and regional outpatient services in the city.
Southern Health-Santé Sud runs clinics, home care and public health across the region.
Winnipeg's tertiary hospitals are about an hour east on Highway 1.

Schools and training

Portage la Prairie School Division — elementary through Portage Collegiate Institute.
Assiniboine College and Red River College Polytechnic both deliver programming in the region.
Adult English and credential support through Portage Learning and Literacy Centre.

Arriving here

You will not be the first.

The processing plants have been hiring internationally for years; newcomer families are a normal part of every shift.
Settlement, language and employment services are available locally and through Winnipeg providers.
Filipino, Ukrainian and Latin American communities are all established in the city.

A year in Portage la Prairie

Portage Ex · June, annually: The city's long-running summer fair — midway, rodeo and grandstand shows.
Island Park summer programming · Summer: Concerts, ball tournaments and family events in the park.
Winter carnival and arena season · Winter: Hockey, curling and community events at the recreation complex.