Events

The AIVA Network team at GCXpo 2026.

GCXpo is a defence and agtech showcase focused on strengthening Canada’s resilience through innovation. Hosted by Area X.O – one of the four Validation Hubs trialling early-stage agtech with the AIVA Network – the event brought together innovators, government, industry, and investors. The AIVA team was pleased to participate! 

Over 20 agtech companies demonstrated their technologies, including AgExpert Sustainability by Farm Credit Canada, and the OZ Robot presented by our partners at Innovation Farms Ontario. 

Here are the highlights: 

Building trust to advance Canadian agriculture

Kim McConnell, founder and former CEO of AdFarm, delivered the agtech keynote address and spoke to Canadian agriculture’s elevated profile on the global stage. 

“The values that Canadians stand by make me proud,” McConnell said, and stated that the world is taking notice of Canada’s reliability. He emphasized that now is the time for the agriculture sector to come together and turn progress into action. For strategy to be implemented, investments must target innovation in agriculture, and McConnell referenced Farm Credit Canada’s $2 billion pledge into agricultural and food innovation. 

Graeme Millen, FCC’s Vice President of Business Development and Project Finance, reiterated this sentiment when introducing the AIVA Network panel. 

“Adoption happens at the speed of trust,” Millen said, capturing the purpose of AIVA: to serve as a trusted resource for Canadian farmers and agtech innovators. AIVA provides farmers with unbiased, third-party evidence to derisk agtech adoption, while connecting innovators to real-world testing environments to validate the latest technology solutions. 

AIVA Network panel

Susanne Corke, Area X.O’s Business Development Director of Smart Farm and Advanced Robotics, moderated the AIVA Network panel. It featured key collaborators from AIVA’s inaugural season of field trials: farmers Chuck Baresich (Innovation Farms Ontario) and Laura Neill (Area X.O), Wentsi Yeung (Area X.O), and AIVA Network’s Carl Havixbeck and Dale Penner. 

The panel addressed the need to bridge the innovation and technology gap in agriculture. Canadian farmers get just one growing season a year and cannot afford to risk their time or crop yields on unproven technologies. AIVA solves this by connecting innovators to multi-regional field trials in a single season, accelerating agtech validation and commercialization. 

The panel also reflected on the potential AIVA has to help push regulatory frameworks to support innovation in agtech. This occurred earlier in the year when Area X.O, farmers, and innovators engaged directly with Health Canada to help inform spray drone regulations. 

Upcoming events

AIVA will be participating in more events in Manitoba and Alberta before the end of the year. Learn more and register:

• November 5: Winnipeg, MB – Agriculture Enlightened
• November 11: Red Deer, AB – Agri-Trade
• November 18: Olds, AB – AIVA Network Demo Day at Olds College

You can also stay up-to-date on other AIVA news, trials, and events by joining the Network to subscribe to monthly updates.