The terms ‘extension’ and ‘advisory’ have long been debated over many symbolic names, e.g. KTT, GRIP, etc., political and structural frames (Gill, 1996). However, the value and essence of advisory and extension services are significant for agricultural and rural development in Canada, at least what we witnessed in our latest study (see NAAN, 2023, Chowdhury et al., 2024) and other observations echo ours (e.g., Stark, 2017; Noble, 2024). The recent report of the North American Agricultural Advisory Network (NAAAN)—which was formed as a policy forum at federal governments of Canada, Mexico and the US—highlights a significant value in public spending in extension when compared to its impact on the internal rate of return with basic and applied research. Since 2000, only a handful of scholarly studies have been available that capture trends and directions of extension and advisory services and related educational initiatives in Canada. The scholarly practices in this field have been long disconnected from the global scholarly and practitioner communities, and this tempted scholars like Milburn (2010) to point out that extension and advisory services were dead in Canada. A few scholars working in this field, like Chowdhury et al., (2024) and Hambly (2020), responded that extension and advisory services did not disappear but moved in different directions, including embedded services within social and community building and network capacities.
The Agri-food sector employs 1 in 9 jobs and generates $150 billion (7%) of the GDP in Canada. The professionals employed in agricultural advisory services, known as agricultural representatives, consultants, and specialists (NOC code 21112), have been identified as one of the high-demand professions. There are several professionalization bodies, such as the Ontario Certified Crop Advisor Association, Ordre professionnel des Agronomes, and networks, such as réseaux Agriconseils and organizations, such as the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta and the Agri-food Innovation Council. Recently, a number of policies at the federal level, e.g. net zero carbon emission policy, Canadian Sustainable Agricultural Partnership, and provincial level, such as Grow Ontario strategies, have articulated agricultural ‘extension/advisory’ components, although some policies are more explicit than others. Some educational Initiatives like 4H Canada and AgScape continue to inspire the next generation of agri-food professionals. The ongoing work on the ‘Living Lab’ is a commendable initiative that utilizes methods and principles of extension, creating opportunities to integrate provincial and federal policy efforts related to agricultural extension and advisory services. Forming a regional platform, such as the North American Agricultural Advisory Network, is another opportunity to build a network of actors working in this field. Despite some efforts, there are still limited initiatives to promote knowledge sharing and learning among provinces and between federal and provincial levels. Moreover, engagement with global and regional scholarship in this field is lacking. To realize the excellence in Canadian agri-food, rural advisory, extension and education service, we need to minimize these gaps that hinder our ability to address disruptions in the era of Extension 4.0 and to ensure that the ongoing transformations in the agri-food sector and rural areas are inclusive and equitable.