Today’s announcement of the launch of the AIVA Network is great news for Canadian agriculture. The Agriculture, Innovation, Validation, and Adoption (AIVA) Network connects farmers, innovators, and validation hubs to bring proven agtech solutions to market and derisk technology adoption.

EMILI is proud to be a founder of AIVA, alongside Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN). 

By expanding on the success of the validation model developed by EMILI’s Innovation Farms, combined with WHIN’s farmer adoption model, and FCC’s investment in the Canadian agriculture and food industry, AIVA is well-positioned to, as their mission states, “champion Canada to be a global leader in agtech innovation.”

“EMILI is committed to expanding Canada’s place as a global leader in transformative innovation,” said EMILI CEO Jacqueline Keena. “Ensuring that agtech has a clear pathway to be tested, scaled and adopted across Canada is a big task, with significant opportunity for increased efficiency and productivity in agriculture. That’s why we are proud to partner with FCC and WHIN to launch AIVA.”

EMILI’s Innovation Farms is one of four AIVA validation hubs located across Canada.

In addition to EMILI’s Innovation Farms, located in Manitoba, AIVA has partnerships with Olds College with sites in Alberta and Saskatchewan; Area X.O in Ottawa, Ontario; and Innovation Farms Ontario, near Bothwell, Ontario.

“Being both a founder and a participating validation hub allows EMILI to drive agriculture innovation faster and with wider impact,” said Keena.

“AIVA’s ability to collaborate and gather data across the country will expand our understanding of the impact of the cutting-edge technologies we are testing and validating on EMILI’s Innovation Farms as well as introducing us to technology being tested on other sites,” said EMILI Innovation Farm Manager Leanne Koroscil.

This year, six projects on EMILI’s Innovation Farms will be evaluated across AIVA’s Validation Hubs, providing a national lens on how the technology works across Canada’s diverse agricultural regions.

In 2026, EMILI will collaborate with AIVA for a multi-partner validation of:

These projects are among 33 projects taking place on EMILI’s Innovation Farms in 2026. 

“I am proud of how far we’ve come in being able to deliver high-impact results to drive agriculture innovation,” said Keena when EMILI announced its 2026 season.

“By testing and validating innovative technology and equipment in real-world commercial farm settings, we are able to evaluate what actually works in a Manitoba context for Canadian farmers,” she said. 

With today’s announcement, EMILI has increased access to regional expertise and data to better understand the impact of technology adoption in a national context. EMILI is thankful to FCC for their commitment to advancing agtech innovation. In May 2025, FCC announced they would be investing $2 billion in agtech innovation by 2030.

To learn more about the technology that EMILI is validating in collaboration with AIVA, attend AIVA Network Demo Day taking place on EMILI’s Innovation Farms on Thursday, August 6. The event is free but space is limited. EMILI will also be welcoming AIVA and their partners to share insights during EMILI’s annual Agriculture Enlightened conference. Canada’s agtech conference is back in Winnipeg on November 6, 2026. Early bird tickets are available.

In the news: