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Advanced manufacturing-a range of innovative, integrated, and controlled technological processes aimed at enhancing efficiency and optimizing outcomes-offers opportunities for rural economic development. However, the presence of advanced manufacturing and its related opportunities are not well understood in rural Canada, particularly at the local level. As part of a project exploring advanced manufacturing in the rural Kootenay region of British Columbia, researchers identified the need for a nuanced and rurally inclusive definition of advanced manufacturing and an accompanying assessment to assist in better understanding needs and opportunities. This article summarizes the case study and proposes the 'advanced manufacturing spectrum', a model illustrating and defining advanced manufacturing, with an accompanying assessment tool that aims to assist users to identify themselves within the advanced manufacturing sector and to better understand the current state of advanced manufacturing and potential for advancement. The application of the assessment tool to the case study demonstrates the potential of the spectrum as a diagnostic and planning tool, able to reveal placebased challenges and opportunities and to enable targeted action. However, given the range of rural contexts, we acknowledge potential limitations in the transferability of the spectrum and assessment tool. The purpose of this article is to share the proposed advanced manufacturing spectrum model for further discussion, testing, and refinement based on its application in other rural regions. We invite further testing of the proposed spectrum and assessment tool to better understand the size and scope of current advanced manufacturing activities across rural places, and to share observations and lessons around the transferability of the spectrum. This article highlights the complex dynamics between government policies, local capacities, and entrepreneurial initiatives in the context of rural development, offering valuable considerations for policymakers and researchers interested in advancing manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]