[2] During the early 1950s Kirkland Lake football players played exhibition games against the Tri-towns (Cobalt, Haileybury, New Liskeard) area, and would later form Youth Club football teams called Kirkland Lake Alouettes and Tri-town Raiders.
The teams from the south region won all nine contests, but the games became very close as the decade wore on.
In 1967 the Northern Ontario Rugby-Football Union changed its name to the Northern Football Conference, to coincide with the parent Canadian Rugby Union league which renamed itself the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Val D'Or Jets, from another western Quebec community, entered a team in the league in 1965 and remained until 1970 but took a leave of absence in 1969.
In attempt to encourage new clubs to join the league, the league decided to include more game innovations, including adopting a summer schedule for the 1976 season, playing with four downs rather than the traditional three downs and allowing local University players to compete.
In 1982 the Stoney Creek Patriots moved to Hamilton and became the Wildcats, while the Brampton Bears joined in 1985.
By 1988 the Sault Ste Marie Steelers folded before the start of the season and the league had again declined to three teams (Sudbury Spartans, Oakville Longhorns and Brampton Bears) but the league returned to a four team lineup a year later when the Brampton Bulldogs were added (they moved to North Bay for the 1991 season).
in 1995, the Hamilton Wild Cats, who had competed in the American Football Association replaced the Crimson Tide as the league sixth team.
The 1997 season saw the league returned to six teams, when Peterborough Packers and North Bay Bulldogs joined.
The NFC champions, Oakville Longhorns, beat Manitoba Football League's Winnipeg Mustangs 42–14 in the first contest.
After the 2019 season two league players, Graham Kelly and Archelaus Jack turned pro and drafted by The Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA) in part of an agreement with the CFL, which placed two players from Canada on the rosters of the Mexican teams.
In 2024 former Oakville Longhorns alum Kyle Hergel was chosen in the 2024 CFL draft first round by the Saskatchewan Roughriders and also signed as a free-agent with the New Orleans Saints.
The Northern Football Conference "Hall of Fame & Life Members" was established in 1985 to recognize outstanding contributions to the league.