The Maternal Infant Child and Youth Research Network (MICYRN) is a federal not-for-profit, charitable organization founded in 2006 to build capacity for high-quality applied health research. It links 20 Canadian maternal and child health research organizations; is affiliated with more than 20 practice-based research networks; provides support to new and emerging teams; and has established strong national and international partnerships. MICYRN’s Clinical Trials Consortium is working to develop a collaborative national infrastructure to support clinical investigations, with an emphasis on multicentre clinical trials.