The growing incidence of chronic diseases has, in part, contributed to increased political and societal pressures to ensure public funds are allocated to the provision of services with known effectiveness. In other words, there is a call to action to ensure the programs and services implemented across Canada in population and public health are effective, and that they will result in improved health outcomes for Canadians. There is some evidence to suggest that current practices related to the promotion of the built environment may not adequately address inequities in health, and may even increase disparities. The purpose of this paper is to identify and summarize research findings on the effectiveness of population based interventions on the built environment, which was identified as a priority topic area in the annual report of the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health to the legislative assembly.