[1][2] He is the middle of three children, with an older sister and a younger brother, raised by his mother Dianne, who worked as a dietary aide at a nursing home in Swan River.

[4] Dianne struggled to fund her son's hockey dream; she required support from charities such as KidSport and the Manitoba Métis Federation to help pay for his equipment.

[3] When Micheal made the midget Wheat Kings team, the parents of his Swan River teammates helped pay his enrollment fees.

During the 2012–13 season, head coach Bob Hartley connected Ferland with former NHL and fellow aboriginal player Gino Odjick to help his transition to professional hockey.

[8] Returning to good health in time for training camp prior to the 2014–15 season, Ferland continued to impress the Flames' coaches with both his scoring ability and physical play.

[11] He made his NHL debut the following night in a 4–3 victory over the Nashville Predators, but was himself injured and missed the following eight games after being hit with an elbow to the head by Anton Volchenkov.

After the Canucks stormed out to a 3–0 lead less than ten minutes into the game, Ferland started a Flames comeback by converting a pass from Matt Stajan late in the period and then ended the scoring with an empty net goal in a 7–4 victory that eliminated Vancouver from the playoffs.

[16] On June 23, 2018, Ferland (along with Dougie Hamilton and prospect Adam Fox) was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.

[19] In the 2018–19 season, Ferland adapted quickly with the Hurricanes, posting a career-high in assists with 23 while his 17 goals and 40 points were his second highest career total in both categories.

As a free agent from the Hurricanes, Ferland returned to Western Canada after agreeing to a four-year, $14 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks on July 10, 2019.

He ultimately turned for help to Flames' head coach Bob Hartley and to teammate Brian McGrattan, who himself overcame a drinking problem.

Ferland was also supported by Flames' minor league coach Mike Thompson, and celebrated one year of sobriety on March 27, 2015, two days before scoring his first NHL goal.