The Canadian Council of Forest Ministers (CCFM) created the National Forestry Database Program (NFDP) in 1990 with the following objectives:

• To describe forest management and its impact on the forest resource;
• To develop a public information program based on the database;
• To provide reliable, timely information to the provincial and federal policy processes.

The Program is a partnership between the federal government and provincial and territorial governments. The Canadian Forest Service (CFS) at Natural Resources Canada, which developed and maintains the database, has responsibility for disseminating national forestry statistics.

A Working Group, with a representative from each of the provincial and territorial forest management agencies along with representatives from CFS, provides direction on enhancements to the database and improving methods of reporting the statistics.

The National Forestry Database is used to compile national statistics. Most of the data are provided by the provincial or territorial resource management organizations. Federal land data are provided by the responsible federal departments and compiled by the CFS.