Innovations in population intervention research capacity: the contributions of Canada on the Move

The Canada on the Move project developed within a dynamic context and in response to an expressed need for increased capacity to support research involving population-level interventions. This article describes a) the movement to create an organized approach to chronic disease prevention in Canada, b) the emerging science of population-level intervention, c) the development of Canadian infrastructure to support population intervention science, and d) the contribution of Canada on the Move in developing a health research platform and, opportunistically, instigating a study which included assessment of the population impact of a commercial marketing initiative.