C-FER, originally the Centre for Frontier Engineering Research, incorporated on November 7, 1983 and opened it's doors for business on April 1st, 1984 with a mandate to attack problems related to material, fabrication, design, regulations, transportation and construction of structures required for arctic and offshore development in Canada.

In 1997, C-FER incorporated as a private, not-for-profit company and formed a wholly owned subsidiary, C-FER Technologies (1999) Inc., which was designed to bring products and services into the marketplace on a competitive commercial basis. C-FER Inc., along with its subsidiary C-FER Technologies, was acquired by Alberta Research Council (ARC) in 1999.

Today, C-FER Technologies operates as a not-for-profit, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Alberta Research Council (ARC) with income earned entirely by performing fee-for-service work, mostly for private industry. Over 60% of this income is now derived from sources outside Canada.